


Took You Long Enough

by PhantomTraveler



Series: Long Enough [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Depression, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Mental Abuse, Physical Abuse, Schmoop, Semi Curtain Fic, Torture, cuddling against a characters will, excessive use of snark, injury to a dog, monster killing, reckless use of an OFC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:03:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 57,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomTraveler/pseuds/PhantomTraveler
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester didn’t know why the snarky hunter KT was avoiding their phone calls and leaving them voicemails sending them on hunts. But between finding the hunter, nursing her back to health, buying a house and saving a dog the Winchester brothers just might find what they had been missing in their lives, and KT if she could just put all the insecurity and anger aside and learn to accept help, she might just find out being alone isn’t the answer to everything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Full warning, this fic contains an original female character who is the main character in the plot. Don’t get me wrong the Winchester’s are also main characters but they will frequently interact with the OFC, care about the OFC and hunt with the OFC. If that isn’t your thing please turn back now. 
> 
> All the places in the towns named are made up (except the Roxbury Hotel (yes they really were on the TV show Tanked, and the T-bar (apologies to that bar, I don’t really think you’re as gross as I made you in this fic)). 
> 
> Most of the medical procedures and descriptions are accurate in this fic but please don’t try this at home. 
> 
> I have no beta, the only eyes that have seen this are me so all grammatical errors are my own.

Took You Long Enough

**Present day: Middle of America**

Sam had his head in a book his shoulder length chestnut hair falling into his face, while Dean absent-mindedly drummed the rhythm of Led Zeppelins ‘Ramble On’ as it filtered through the Impalas speakers. It was cold enough that Dean was wearing his trademark leather jacket while he guided the classic black Chevy down the highway. They were driving though nowhere America, for once they were in between hunts and had nowhere to be. Sam’s phone let out a short beep, which indicated he had a voicemail. Sam’s brow wrinkled, he had cell service but his phone never rang. He clicked the play button, listened the message once and turned to his brother.

“ _Hey Dean, listen to this, it’s from KT_ ”

Dean turned down the radio as Sam put his phone on speaker. A woman’s voice began to play out of the grainy phone speakers.

“ _Yo Winchester’s way to not pick up the phone when a lady calls, I see how it is. Listen I have this case I’m not going to be able to take care of. It’s simple enough just a Wendigo in Oklahoma, I’ve done all the research all you’ve got to do is show up, flame up the thing and get all the accolades from the ladies, that’s right boys, I’ve done all the work for you…again. Don’t be mad Sam but I hacked your phone, got a location where you are. By tomorrow you should be in the town of Hays, go to the post office and ask for the PO Box 142 key, in there you’ll find all of the info you need for this case. Thanks so much, I’ll owe you a drink next time we run into each other_.”

With that the voice mail clicked off. Dean looked over at Sam and ran his fingers through his short spiked light brown hair and said,

“ _Well she didn’t really leave us an out to say no did she? I guess we’re heading over to Oklahoma give her a call and let her know_ ”

Sam pressed redial, but the phone went straight to voice mail

“ _You’ve reached KT, leave your name and nightmare after the beep and I’ll get back to you_ ”

Sam left a message confirming the Winchesters were on the case. It bothered him a little that he had not gotten to speak to the hunter but he shrugged off his unease and began to think of the hunter he and Dean had met several years before and had become fast friends with. To say she gave the Winchesters a run for their money was an understatement. Sam laid his head back on the passenger seat and with that, Dean turned the music back up and Robert Plants voice blared through the speakers. The Winchester’s settled in for a long drive and they reflected back on the snarky hunter who had just left them a voice message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Several years earlier: King of Prussia, PA**

The Winchester boys began to creep through the woods, there was a cabin up a head with a single light shining through the cracked window. As they crept closer they drew their weapons, each armed with a machete they began to look for ways into the cabin they knew to house a nest of vampires. The Winchester’s peered through the one window to see what they were up against. What they saw gave them pause. There was a woman with her arms shackled to the ceiling with two angry looking vampires standing in front of her. Her waste long brown hair was swept up in a French braid, judging by the locks of hair that had escaped their braided prison and the ripped shirt and bleeding cut above one of the vampires eye she hadn’t been captured without a fight.

The vampire with the torn shirt turned to the woman,

“ _How’d you find us?”_

The girl’s lips curled into a snarl,

“ _What? I was just out selling girl scout cookies figured four dudes out in the wilderness could use some thin mints_ ”

With that the vampire reared back and slapped the woman so hard in the face her head snapped back. Dean’s hand gripped his machete as he saw red and prepared to just blindly bust into the place, it was only Sam’s hand on his arm that stopped his movement.

“ _Dean, wait, look, she’s up to something_ ”

The woman’s head was still pointed skyward and she began to laugh, a dark bone chilling laugh that gave the vampire pause.

The vampire took a step closer “ _and what do you think is so funny_?”

The girl lowered her head and fixed the vampire with a glare so lethal if he still had a beating heart his blood would have run cold. Her lips bent up in a smirk

“ _Oh nothing much, I was just picturing the look on your face when you saw your buddies head over there rolling on the ground_ ”

In a blink of an eye her hands were free of the shackles that had suspended her from the ceiling, and a hidden blade was unearthed from god knows where. She swiftly cut the head off the vampire in questions head, the vampire that had slapped her eyes widened as he grasped for something to say, the girl fixed her eyes on him and smiled,

“ _Yeah, that face. See cracks me up every time_ ”

And with that she severed his head from his body. The Winchester’s had finally gotten their act together and burst through the door, they remembered the woman talking about four men in the cabin and only two had been accounted for. The woman looked up at the two over 6 foot hunters machetes at the ready and grinned.

“ _Well it took you long enough_ ”

With that she turned and cleaned off her knife on the dead vampires shirt. Sam paused, confused by this woman standing among the carnage she created.

  
“ _Excuse me, I’m Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean. I’m assuming by your arsenal of weapons and snarky attitude that you’re a hunter as well. Can you point us in the direction of the two other vampires before they get away?”_

At that the woman turned around and straightened her shoulders and grinned,

“ _Sure thing, they’re out back by the fire pit, no need to rush out there though, their heads are already separated from their bodies. You could do me a solid and help me burn these bodies I have work in the morning and this will take forever by myself. Names KT by the way_.”

With that the boys helped the snarky woman burn four vampire bodies and had a new contact in the hunter world that would constantly baffle them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Town of Hays**

The Impala rumbled into the town of Hays and stopped in front of the small post office. Both boys got out the sleek muscle car to stretch their legs. Sam headed into the post office to retrieve KT’s cryptic package and Dean wandered over to the small coffee shop next door to get his daily dose of caffeine.

Sam got back into the car and Dean handed him a to go cup

“ _Here you go princess, one of those fancy lattes you like so much_ ”

Sam barely grunted an acknowledgment as he took the proffered coffee and began to leaf through the substantial packet of info KT had left them. After Sam had finished looking through all of it he took a large sip of coffee which had long gone from hot to luke warm and turned to his brother and let out a small laugh

“ _Man, Dean, this is the most thorough research I’ve ever seen, especially for a Wendigo hunt. It has a list of victims, locations of abductions, history all the way back to the early 1900s, shit this thing is old. She provided us with GPS coordinates where she thinks the thing is holding out and three other potential spots where it could be. She even got us credentials as park rangers should we run into anyone_ ”

Dean looked over at the badges with their pictures on it Sam held up, he made a face and said

“ _Where did she get those photos_?”

“ _I have no idea, but knowing her, I’d be afraid to know the answer_ ” Sam shivered a little

Dean nodded in agreement and then looked at the badges a little more closely and groaned.

“ _You’ve got to be kidding me, she’s a cruel cruel woman_ ”

Sam furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and turned the badges over and gave them a closer look that’s when he saw the names and let out a bark of a laugh.  
“ _Guess we don’t have to pretend to not be brothers on this case huh Gunner?_ ”

“ _Shut up, she just made you Mathew because he has longer hair_ ”

Sam laughed again and began to hum the Nelson tune “Only Time Will Tell”

“ _Oh and Gunner, in case you needed a reminder she left us a diagram how to kill the thing_ ”

With that Sam held up a crude stick figure drawing of a Wendigo with fangs and claws and a tall stick figure with hair down to its waste and a slightly shorter bow legged stick figure with a frown on his face and a torch in his hand. Written under the drawing it said, “Torch the son of a bitch”

            The hunt went smoothly, much to Sam’s amusement they did have to flash those badges KT had made them and seeing the blush on Dean’s face more then made up for having to trek through the woods in a rain storm. As they got back to the car Dean began to stow their gear and Sam slipped open his phone to call KT and let her know they finished the job, his lips already curling into a smile as he thought about what he was going to say about some of the artistic choices she had made in that packet of information.

_“You’ve reached KT, leave your name and nightmare after the beep and I’ll get back to you”_

Sam frowned at his phone and he left a brief voicemail for KT

“ _Hey….hey KT, so we took care of that Wendigo for you, lazy bones I bet you just didn’t want to traipse through the woods, anyway it’s been a long time since we’ve heard from you, give us a call”_

Sam gets into the car and turned to Dean and frowned,

“ _Went straight to voicemail again_ ”

Dean shrugged “ _well you know KT she isn’t one for idle chit chat_ ”

Sam nodded in agreement and as the impala roared to life he thought back to a past hunt. KT was always full of surprises, he probably shouldn’t be worrying so much about all of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**A few years earlier: A motel in Delhi, NY**

Sam was researching on his laptop while Dean leaned back on the headboard of his bed, beer in one hand and remote in the other. Sam looked up from his research,

“ _So get this, it says that John Wilson and his wife Rachel went on a killing spree in 1874, they would capture couples and cut their throats with a razorblade, but it appears that one day a couple that they captured got the best of them and turned the tables_.”

“ _Great so we’re looking for two ancient ghosts with a perchance for Sweeny Todd sounds like a fun night_ ”

“ _Yeah, well, I’m not so sure that’s it. The spirits people have reported seeing were mentioned as a blond women and a man and Rachel was a brunet and John was bald_.”

Dean rolled his eyes,

“ _So? Not the first time witnesses were unreliable, who else could they be seeing?_ ”

Sam sat up in excitement

“ _That’s the thing, after the Wilson’s were killed by their captives the killing stopped for a few years but then they started up again, apparently people always suspected Todd and Carla Rosen the couple that killed the Wilsons_ ”

Dean took a moment to mull over all that info

“ _Ok so we’re looking for the Rosen’s then, same deal, two ghosts singing ‘my friends’, got it_.”

Sam rolled his eyes,

“ _Dean focus for two seconds, the fact that the new murders that we’re investigating keep happening in different locations and that the descriptions are different depending on who we talk to, I think all four spirits are active, and having a bit of a murder off. This all started when someone found that razor blade in storage and put it on display in the history museum in town. I think both murdering couples are trying to out do the other set_.”

Dean sat up “ _So, four ghosts, multiple locations, and hundreds of years of pent up rage for a grudge match? That does not sound like my kind of Saturday night man_.”

“ _Yeah, this sounds like a little much Dean, I was thinking, I’m pretty sure were only one town over from the town KT lives in, what if we give her a call, maybe she can help us out on this one_?”

Dean grunted a noncommittal answer at the suggestion so Sam continued

“ _Dean come on man I know we usually hunt alone but I think we could benefit from a little help, plus last time we ran into KT she said she had a way to hack into surveillance cameras and I would really like to learn that technique_ ”

Dean sighed, “ _Fine Sam you’re probably right on this one give her a call_ ”

Sam dialed the number and waited for call to connect

“ _You’ve got KT, I’ve got five minutes so make it quick_ ”

“ _KT, this is Sam, um Sam Winchester. Hey so Dean and I are over in Delhi and I think I remember you saying you lived pretty close to there_ ”  
KT’s voice was tense over the line as she said,

“ _You would be correct but I’m kind of busy right now so I don’t really have time to get together for a drink or anything_ ”

Sam could hear what sounded like growling in the background and he heard KT yell a muffled “ _quit it!”_ she must have covered the speaker.

“ _Actually KT, Dean and I have this case and it’s turned out super complicated and we could use a hand if you’ve got some time_ ”

Sam heard a low chuckle,

“ _Well Sammy boy, you should have just said so. Text me your location and I can head out in 2 hours, it should take me about 30 minutes to get there once I’m done at work. Leave me a voicemail with the details of the case and I’ll listen to it on the way. Got to run see you boys soon_ ”

With that the line disconnected. Sam shook his head at the ever-odd conversation he just had with the elusive hunter. From over on the other bed Dean laughed

“ _What do you think she’s got tied up there growling man? Wouldn’t put it past KT to have a pet hellhound or something_. _Man that girl hates small talk, did you hear how tense her voice was until you told her we had a case? She never wants to just hang out, you think she doesn’t like us?_ ”

Dean crossed his eyes and chuckled. Sam frowned and wondered if there wasn’t some truth to that statement.

            True to her word KT showed up at their doorstep about 3 hours after their phone call. It was clear she had taken a shower between work and driving to their location. Her hair was once again pulled back in a French braid, she was dressed for the crisp fall weather of New York in a red and black plaid shirt, black jeans and black combat boots. When Dean opened the door KT walked right past him into the room to dump her bag onto the small table in the motel room. Dean’s eyes widened a little bit,

“ _Oh please come in KT, no need for such formalities like being invited in or anything_ ”

KT let out a loud laugh,

“ _Oh please Dean like you know anything about manners. So the Merry Murder Mystery, that’s what you called me in about_?”

Dean wrinkled his nose at that statement,

“ _The Merry what now?”_

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _The Merry Murder Mystery, it’s a legend in this town, there’s a whole room dedicated to it in the local history museum. Never ask a local about it after they’ve had a few drinks because people get heated on this topic_.”

Sam raised his eyebrows as KT plopped down on one of the chairs and started fiddling with a knife that was laid out on table for cleaning, as she spun it around she continued

“ _See some people think that the murders were always being committed by the Rosen’s and they tried to frame the Wilson’s to take the heat off them but in the end they couldn’t bring themselves to stop killing so they started up again”_

KT started twirling the knife between her hands as she continued

 _“Others, they think that the ghost of Rachel Wilson came to Todd and convinced him to take up where they had left off. Or that one day Carla found the razor blade and was possessed by one of the Wilson spirits_.”

Sam was sitting up straight intrigued by all this information, he leaned towards KT

“ _And what do you think the story is, considering you’re apparently an expert”_

KT laughed and pointed the knife at Sam,

 _“Auh Sam are you mad I out researched you? Truth be told I was planning on hitting this hunt up this weekend if you hadn’t gotten here first, messed up my weekend plans. I think it’s not so complicated. I think the Wilson’s were the first set of murderers and the Rosen’s just got the drop on them that day. John seemed to be a bit of a hot head. I think after the captivity and being forced to slit two throats changed the Rosen’s, they tried to put it past them, get on with their lives but they just couldn’t so eventually they took up where the Wilson’s left off. See recently the razor blade was unearthed but the museum is having trouble figuring out what to put on the little name plate is it ‘The Wilson Blade’ or the ‘Rosen Blade’ I think that threw both ghostly couples into a tizzy how dare anyone think the other couple is better?! And now they’re having a grudge match_.”

KT sat back satisfied and gave the knife one last flip catching the hilt in mid air. The boys were quiet for a moment, processing the information they were just given when something KT said stuck in Dean’s head.

“ _Wait a minute…did you just say if we hadn’t come along you were going to take care of this this weekend? As in you were going to drive down here, dig up four graves in the middle of the night, torch the bones, and break into a museum and burn the razor blade all while four angry sprits likely joined forces to end you?!”_ Deans voice had gotten louder and louder and he had begun to pace as he spoke. KT shrugged,

“ _I work alone_ ”

Dean huffed at her nonchalant reply and crossed his arms

“ _Yeah well, not this time_ ”

KT shrugged again.

“ _Well then what are we standing around for boys let’s get this show on the road_.”

KT jumped up threw her bag over her shoulder and headed out the door, she paused for a minute looked back in and shouted

“ _Shot gun!”_ and stuck her tongue out at Sam.

Dean shook his head

“ _You heard her Sammy, lets get a move on_ ”

            Dean grunted as he continued to dig up the late Todd Rosen, he looked up to see Sam had gotten a little farther in the progress of digging up Carla. So far there was no sign of either spirit all he could see was KT perched on a nearby tombstone legs crossed, foot bobbing along to only a tune she could hear, shotgun full of rock salt in her hands. KT looked up to the sky and sighed,

“ _Boys this is taking forever, why don’t I just jet off to the other side of the cemetery and start digging up the Wilson’s so this doesn’t take all night, I’ve got work in the morning_.”

Sam didn’t stop digging as he spoke

“ _KT you know someone has to be lookout, there are way too many ghosts out there for us to be caught off guard_ ”

Dean looked up

“ _We can switch places if you want KT, you dig a 6 foot hole into the chilled ground while I sit on my ass star gazing_.”  
“ _Very funny Dean, not a chance, you and Sam drew the short straws. Better luck at the next dig sight_ ”

Dean harrumphed as KTs foot continued to jiggle impatiently. Both Rosen’s graves were dug up and the bones salted and burned without even a whisper of an angry spirit. KT started to get agitated

“ _Boys I’m not liking the fact that no ghosties have shown up to interrupt our late night grave digging party_ ”

Sam nodded in agreement, Dean shrugged,

“ _lets just dig up the next dastardly duo and hope for an easy night_ ”

            This round Sam was perched on a tombstone while KT and Dean dug up the Wilsons. Dean was grumbling about unfair practices as he dug up the grave. Sam was trying to figure out what constellation was above them as the air grew cold. He gripped his shot gun and called out,

“ _Guys incoming_!”

Right as the late John Wilson appeared, Sam hit him square in the chest with rock salt and he dissipated but Rachel appeared and knocked the shotgun out of Sam’s hands, as he scrambled to grab it the ghost headed for KT.  
Sam yelled,

“ _KT look out_!”

KT looked up swung her shovel at the ghost who dissipated with a screech, KT continued digging without missing a beat. Sam raised his eyebrows,

“ _Um…KT…since when does a shovel get rid of a ghost_?”

KT had the decency to not roll her eyes as she answered

 _“Since my shovel head is made out of iron, it’s a little heavier that way but you don’t have to pause to kick a little ghost ass while digging_ ”

Dean made an intrigued sound, 

“ _I like that idea, man Sammy why didn’t you ever think of that college boy_ ”

Sam grumbled something under his breath at Dean’s expense

“ _Let’s talk about this later guys since I doubt those ghosts will be gone for long_ ”

The Wilson’s only made one more appearance before their remains were salted and burned. Now all that was left was to break into the museum and burn the razor blade.

            The Winchesters and KT stood outside the museum window. KT had her arms crossed and a fed up look on her face,

“ _Look I’m done arguing about this, we don’t know who’s tied to the blade but one to all four ghosts know we’re coming now so speed is of the essence. I’ve been in the museum before, I know the lay out. I’m also half the size of you two giants so I can get in and out much faster then you_.”

With that KT picked the lock on the window and slipped inside, a few moments later KT appeared at the back door.

“ _Alarms taken care of come on in boys_ ”

The boys walked into the museum and followed the petite hunter through the darkened halls wordlessly. As they neared the room that housed the history of the Merry Murder Mystery the room grew cold. Before Dean could even let out a warning he was thrown across the room. His whole body ached as he looked up to see Rachel Wilson standing over him razor blade in hand. She suddenly disappeared and rock salt rained down on him as he heard KT pump the shotgun and exclaim,

“ _get your own pretty boy Peaches_ ”

Dean let out a huff of air,

“ _I don’t know if I should be more concerned with you calling me pretty boy or the ghost Peaches_.”

KT smiled down at Dean and offered him her hand, he grabbed it and got up from the pile of broken museum items he had landed on. KTs smirk quickly left her lips as Rachel reappeared behind Dean and slashed the blade lightning fast down Dean’s back. Dean fell forward, KT reached out with her free hand and shot the blade wielding spirit again. She gently lowered Dean down to the ground,

“ _God you weight a ton_ ” she handed Dean his fallen shotgun _,_

 _“lay here, cover me and try not to bleed on the historical artifacts_ ”

If the blood wasn’t rapidly leaving his body Dean would have come up with a witty retort but all he managed was an inelegant “ _whatever_ ” in reply. Rachel and John appeared and KT let off quick shots, they dissipated. Two more shots rang out behind KT, Dean smirked from his post on the ground,

“ _missed one Cupcake_ ”

KT pointed a finger at Dean,

“ _don’t think I’m letting that one slide pretty boy, we’re talking about that one later_.”

A shout came from the other room, which reminded KT and the elder Winchester that they hadn’t heard from Sam in far too long. KT went sprinting into the other room to see Sam fire off a round into Carla and Todd Rosen, though not fast enough to keep Todd from slicing into Sam’s chest with the blade. From KTs assessment Todd had gotten a few slices in before Sam had had a chance to take care of him. KT was caught up in her assessment of Sam and didn’t notice the spirit behind her, Sam let out a shout but there was no way for him to shoot the spirit without shooting KT and he knew from experience rock salt hurt like a bitch. KT spun around but Carla managed to slice deeply into her thigh before she could get off a shot. KT limped the few steps over to the razor blade and set it ablaze. The three hunters held their breath and waited a beat, no more blade-wielding ghosts appeared.

            Dean walked into the room a little weak in the knees assessing the damage done to the museum and to the two other hunters. Everyone was going to need some patching up.

“ _Well, lets get a move on kids_ ”

            The three hunters stumbled into the motel room, KTs back straightened and she started barking out orders.

“ _Dean you first you’ve lost the most blood, shirt off and lay on the bed, I’ll grab my med kit. Sam you hold pressure on that wound on your chest, the rest should stop bleeding on their own soon enough_.”

Sam tilted his head in confusion at the orders being given to him, he held up his hands in a stop motion

“ _Now, KT this isn’t our first rodeo, we do know how to triage and patch each other up.”_  
KT was digging through her bag before she came out with a medium sized box covered in sunflowers that she popped open. She pulled out a syringe filled it with something in a vile and turned to Dean

“ _you allergic to anything pretty boy_?”

Dean shook his head, KT knelt down cleaned off his arm with an alcohol pad and injected the syringe directly into Dean’s vein on the first shot. As Dean relaxed she returned to her flowery medical box and pulled out needle drivers, forceps and suture. She turned to Sam

“ _I get that Sam, judging by the countless scars I see on both you boys, you do a good job of it as well, but while hunting may be your day and night job, it’s only a night job for me and my day job, lets just say it will serve you both well to let me patch you up_ ”

Dean poked his head up from the bed and slurred,

“ _Do whaht she saiys Sammy, tis is the good shtuff_ ”

With that his head crashed back down on the bed. KT raised her eyebrows at Sam waiting for his reply, he grabbed a towel, held pressure on his wound and nodded for her to continue.

            KT made quick work of the numerous stitches needed to close the wound on Dean’s back. When she was done, she gave him another shot, in the butt much to Dean’s embarrassment.

“ _Don’t give me that face pretty boy do you know how old that razor blade was you needed a tetanus shot_.” With that she turned her attention towards Sam “ _Alright stretch, shirt off let me get at that chest wound_.”

Dean laid his head back down and within seconds was snoring. Sam nodded, he stripped off his shirt and KT sucked in a breath,

“ _Damn she got you really deep, the pectoralis muscle is split, I’m going to have to do a multi layer closure on you handsome, let me get a shot of the good stuff and we’ll get started_ ”

Sam’s eyes shot up,

“ _Hey, I really don’t want to be all the way out of it, is there any chance you’ve got some local anesthetic in there_?”

KT fixed him with a stare that he felt down to his very soul, she bent down in her medical case and came out with a smaller vial.

“ _I can give you some local injections but it will still hurt like a bitch, I really would recommend some pain medication, I know being in your head can be scary sometimes but seriously stretch this is going to hurt_ ”

Sam nodded “ _I get that but let’s try with the local, I’ll let you know if it gets to be too much_ ”

KT walked over and gave Sam several injections around the wound, she pulled up a chair and started closing up the wound. Sam started to grimace in pain, the injections had certainly taken the edge off but he could still feel the muscle being knitted back together.

“ _hey, KT? Could you explain what you’re doing? I’ve never seen a closure like this before_ ”

KT looked up from what she was doing and smiled at him

“ _Sure thing handsome, see you got cut pretty deep. The blade went through your skin, your subcutaneous tissue, and your muscle. Each one of those layers requires a different closure so it doesn’t knit together in one large mass. So first things first is the muscle, I’m doing a simple interrupted pattern here, each individual stich is done separately, that way the muscle still has full movement, and if one stich fails they don’t all fail. Next the subcue, I’m doing a simple continuous pattern here, this one is a little harder, since you had ample muscles it was easy to suture that all together but the subcue, another good description of that would be fat, and you stretch, well you don’t have much fat on you._ ”

KT smiled as she tied off the suture on that layer and grabbed her scissors to cut the remaining suture off. Sam noticed some hair had fallen out of her braid and into her eyes, he reached forward and tucked the hair behind her ear. Every muscle in KTs body went tense for just a second but then she continued on

“ _Alright, last layer, now I’m using a different type of suture for this. Same as your brothers. In about 14 days you guys can cut this stuff and remove it. But the layers I did underneath? That suture is absorbable so don’t go digging around under your skin got it?_ ”

She tapped Sam’s thigh with her index finger and he nodded.

“ _Good, so this pattern I’m doing, it’s called a ford interlocking pattern. Usually I like to use this on large animals like cows that roll around in the dirt a lot and need a super secure hold_ ”

KT smiled, there was a wicked glint in her eye,

“ _You and your brother strike me as pretty similar so I figure it’s a good pattern to use on you_ ”

Sam startled slightly at that,

“ _wait a minute, cows? I thought you said you were a doctor?_ ”

KT finished her last knot and stood up to grab a tetanus shot. She smiled

“ _Well I never said what I did, just that my day job makes me more qualified, and I am a doctor Sammy boy, I’m just an animal doctor. Trust me I had just as much schooling as an MD I just use it to save the animals of the world. Now you know the drill, turn around and drop your pants you need a booster of tetanus as well stretch_ ”

Sam groaned and KT cackled. After she gave him the injection she gave his ass a pinch and said,

“ _Alright, you’ll live, pull your pants up and take these pain meds and you’ll be right as rain soon enough_ ”

Sam turned around, slight blush on his cheeks that’s when he noticed the bandana tied around KTs leg and the blood that was seeping through it.

“ _Wait a minute, KT let me suture that leg of yours_ ”

KT looked down at the leg wound and shrugged

“ _No offense stretch but I have a policy, if I’m still conscious and capable of holding a needle driver then I’ll patch myself up_.”

With that she plopped down in the chair cut a wider hole into her pants and began to suture her leg closed. Teeth grinding in pain and determination. When she was finished she hoped up and began packing up her supplies back into that ridiculous sunflower medical box.

“ _Hey Sam, you and your brother could both benefit from some antibiotics and pain killers with those wounds. Why don’t you stop by my office tomorrow around 2pm and I’ll hook you up_ ”

She handed him a business card and then a smirk crossed her features, a glint reflected in her big brown eyes that Sam has already come to identify as trouble. She continued on

“ _and do me a favor, don’t tell Dean exactly what my profession is, it will be better that way_ ”

Sam chuckled but nodded his head in agreement.

            The next morning Sam woke up to find Dean grumbling and rubbing his ass muttering about no good longhaired sassy doctors and their giant syringes of doom. Sam chuckled to himself before telling Dean they were stopping by the good doctors later that day to pick up some medical supplies. Dean perked up at that, always happy to restock the med kit with the good stuff. When he was more awake Dean bent down to examine the work KT had done on Sam, he let out a low whistle

“ _Damn Sammy she did a good job there, what is she a plastic surgeon_?”

Sam chuckled again and shrugged his shoulder,

“ _I don’t know man, guess you can ask her when we get to her office later_ ”

            “ _Oh what the hell_!” Dean yelled as Sam burst out laughing as they pulled into “KT’s Animal Clinic” Sam tried to widen his eyes in innocence

“ _well come on Fido it’s time for your appointment_ ”

Dean got out of the car and slammed the door a little harder then necessary, he sent up a silent apology to Baby. As the boys walked into the clinic they saw a much softer KT, she still had her hair pulled back in a French braid but she was dressed in a pair of dark blue scrubs, red stethoscope around her neck. She was kneeling down in front of a very happy Golden Retriever who appeared to be trying to get his entire 100lb body into her lap. KT laughed openly at his antics as he gave her doggy kisses on the cheek.

“ _Alright, alright I’m going to miss you to Rocky but it’s time to go home_ ”

The Golden Retriever, Rocky, apparently, paid no mind to her protests and continued to bestow doggy kisses and tail wags. Rocky’s owner was beside herself

“ _Thank you so much doctor! When we brought Rocky in two weeks ago I never thought he was going to make it, you saved his life_!”

KT smiled and gave Rocky one last hug before standing up

“ _It’s my pleasure Maybell, now just give him the medication I’m sending home twice a day and give me a call if you have any questions alright_?”

With that Maybell nodded and her and Rocky made their way to the exit. KT stiffened when she saw the boys but recovered quickly,  
“ _Auh Mr. and Mr. Vedder why don’t you come on back, I’ll let you come visit with little Snookums for a while she has missed her Daddies so much_ ”

Sam tried to hide a smirk as Deans jaw dropped open. With a wink KT turned and walked down the hallway, all the boys could do was follow. The Winchester’s followed the doctor into what appeared to be a treatment area. KT began to rummage through the cabinets. Babbling quietly as she did so

“ _Sorry, sorry I meant to have the box of supplies ready for you guys before you got here but the day got ahead of me and I haven’t had a moment to pee let alone make a hunter goodie bag_ ”

KT squatted down to get something out of a lower cabinet and let out a yelp of pain as she stretched her stitches. Dean kneeled down to help steady her.

“ _woh there cupcake take a breath_ ”

KT pulled out of his grip and kept collecting supplies, but wouldn’t really look either brother in the eye. Finally she finished her packing and handed the box to Dean and turned to Sam it was clear she had slipped into doctor mode.

“ _Ok boys, so for Dean one tablet twice a day of the Augmentin and one tablet of the Carprofen three times a day as needed for pain. Keep the sutures clean and dry, remove them in 10-14 days. And Sam, two Augmentin twice a day, 1.5 Tablets of Carprofen three times a day and one Tramadol three times a day as needed for pain. Same instructions for your sutures. Written instructions are in the box as well if you forget_.”

Sam quirked an eyebrow at the doctor,

“ _Thanks for all this KT, really, do you want to grab a bite to eat or a drink before we hit the road_?”

KT managed to stiffen even more then she already had, Sam’s muscles ached in sympathy. KT shook her head,

“ _Yeah appreciate the offer, but I’ve got a lot of work to do, and you guys should really hit the road_.”

“ _How about after work_?” Sam suggested

KT shook her head,

“ _I’m always working, catch you on the flip side boys. Anyways you’re both do for your pain meds and it’s better to take them with food_.”

With that, KT walked them to the door and showed them outside.

            It wasn’t until later when Sam took a closer look at the pill bottles that he started to laugh. Dean raised his eyebrow in question

“ _Oh nothing, it’s just she labeled my pill bottles as Clifford and yours as Scooby_ ”

and with that the Winchesters drove into the sunset shaking their heads and the ever confusing hunter/doctor they were leaving behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Somewhere in Kansas**

            Dean was once again tapping out a rhythm on the steering wheel as he drove down the highway, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Sam was mulling over something that was causing not just his shoulders but his entire torso to brude, Dean sighed,

“ _Spit it out dude, what’s going on in that pumpkin head of yours_?”

Sam rolled his eyes and then shook his head before he started rambling out the problem he’d been going over in his head,

“ _It’s just this whole KT thing is bothering me, we took care of that Wendigo what? Like two weeks ago? We haven’t heard back from her at all, not even a sarcastic text message. I’ve tried to call her a few times and always it goes straight to voicemail_ ”

Dean nodded,

“ _yeah the clinic goes to voicemail as well_ ”

Sam’s eyes widened in surprise,

“ _So this has bothered you to huh_?”

Dean nodded. The brothers sat in silence for a moment before Dean’s shoulders set in resolve and he cranked the Impalas steering wheel hard to the left pulling a U-turn. He looked over at Sam’s surprised face,

“ _Well Sammy, I’m pretty sure KTs message said she’d owe us a drink if we took care of that Wendigo, I think it’s time we collected_.”

Sam let out a large breath of air he’d been holding as Dean popped in one of his cock rock cassettes and settled in for the long trip to New York.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Frederick, Maryland**

            Eric was sitting in the corner of the bar, watching, waiting, hunting. He saw a woman in her twenties, she had long brown hair pulled back in a French twist and was dressed in a V-neck sweater with black jeans and high-heeled boots.

“ _Close enough_ ” Eric thought to himself as he waited for his in. He knew he couldn’t get her to come with him by smooth talking her but that’s why he’d chosen this bar to begin with, it played to his advantage. He saw her pick up her phone and frown, she pursed her lips and tapped at a few of the buttons angrily. Right as she was about to shove the phone back into her purse Eric made his move.

“ _Excuse me, miss I couldn’t help but notice you having some trouble with your phone_.”

The girl looked at him guardedly, Eric smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose, trying to look as unassuming as possible. He must have done a good enough job because she gave a small smile and held her phone up,

“ _Was I that obvious? This damn thing won’t send or get any messages and I was supposed to meet a friend here but they’re late and I can’t seem to get in touch with them. And technology just makes me so angry you know_?”

At that Eric smiled he definitely had his in now.

“ _I do know, actually I work IT and I am also a frequenter of this bar. It’s a dead spot, no calls in or out, some people go as far as to accuse the owner of making it a faraday cage so people have to talk to each other. But I know a secret about this place_ ”

Eric’s eyes sparkled with mischief and he leaned forward as if this secret was particularly juicy.

“ _There’s a single spot of service outside, you have to stand in a very particular manor but you should be able to get a message to your friend_?”

The girl thought about it for a moment she seemed on the verge of saying no when Eric pushed at his glasses again and said,

“ _Plus if you want I can hack your phone so you can get wifi where ever you go_ ”

The girl stood up and tilted her head in Eric’s direction,

“ _Lead the way IT man_ ”

Eric smiled as he lead the brunet out of the bar and around the corner, his smile turned predatory and his eyes began to take on a yellow hue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Roxbury, NY**

            Dean slammed his hand against the door in frustration,

“ _Damn it_!”

Sam looked over at his brother as he finished up his conversation with Jerry another hunter they sometimes worked with.

“ _So Jerry says he and a couple more hunters have gotten these same voicemails from KT with helpful ‘Hunter Packets’ with all the research done for them, so far it seems like it’s been going on for at least 4 months but this could just be the tip of the iceberg_.”

Dean continued to hit and now kick the door in front of him. Sam came over and put a hand on his shoulder,

“ _Dean stop! She’ll be pissed if you break her clinic when she gets back_ ”

Dean looked over at him his voice pitched low

“ _She’s not coming back Sammy_ ”

He gave the door one more kick for good measure.

As the brothers had been exploring KTs hometown Dean had been getting more and more agitated. They had started at her animal clinic but finding the door firmly closed with a sign reading “Closed until further notice” that looked like it had been up for months Sam had done some DMV hacking and found a home address for KT. The boys found the apartment easy enough,

“ _Of course she lives five minutes walking distance from her clinic_ ” Sam mused.

They found the apartment in the same state as the clinic, no one had been there for a very long time. Sam had started going through the belongings in the young doctors apartment looking for some clue as to where she went. Going through her personal belongings had made Dean feel dirty, he knew KT would kick both their asses if she found them in her apartment. When they couldn’t find anything helpful in the apartment they returned to the clinic, while Sam followed up leads with fellow hunters, Dean took out his frustrations on the clinic door.

“ _Boy you better stop kicking the good doctors door or I’ll whoop you with a wooden spoon_ ”

Dean looked over his shoulder, mouth agape, at a husky woman with her hands on her hips. While Dean tried to pull himself together Sam put on his most charming smile,

“ _You’ll have to excuse my brother ma’am you see we’re friends of the good doctor but we have um…lost touch, and we drove all this way to surprise her but she appears to be out of town. You wouldn’t know where she is would you_?”

Faced with the full charm of the youngest Winchester the woman began to fan herself,

“ _Woo-ee Doc’s been holding out on me if she’s got friends the likes of you two tall drinks of water. Girls as quiet as a church mouse outside of work, never goes out with us, never dates, damn near swallowed her tongue the one time the Baker boy flirted with her but apparently she had this whole second life full of hot leather clad men. Oh I’m going to let her have it when she gets back_.”

Sam had trouble following the train of thought of this bubbly woman but that last sentence finally got through.

“ _Oh she’s coming back, when did she say that was happening_?”

The woman pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip,

“ _Well I’m not sure exactly, about 5 months ago I got a voicemail from her, it was strange, so strange actually I still have it. It sounded like the devil was on that girls heals, she didn’t say when she’d be back just that everything needed to be closed up and she was sorry_.”

Sam frowned at that,

“ _Ma’am would you mind if we listened to that voicemail_?”

Sam gave her his most disarming smile but she hesitated,

“ _I don’t know, you seem like nice boys, but the doc, she’s very private and I just don’t know_ ”

It seemed Dean had finally gotten with the program he stepped forward and put his hand on the woman’s shoulder, the smile on his face said butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth as he said,

“ _I totally get that ma’am, but see we’re really good friends with KT_ ” Dean leaned down conspiratorially

“ _Do you know, we’ve even seen her with her hair out of that braid she always has it in_ ”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise as Dean continued,

“ _We just really need to find her, we’re worried about her_.”

The woman was powerless against the combined forces of the Winchester brothers. She reached into her pure and cued up her phone. KTs voice played over the small speaker. KTs voice was missing its trademark sarcastic lilt, instead her voice sounded small and it wavered as she spoke.

“ _Hey…hey Tina, I’m uh sorry to be contacting you like this but uh, something’s come up. I need to close up shop for uh a while? Can you lock the door, send off pending lab work and fax the files to Road Animal Clinic_ ”

There was a moment where KTs voice cut out, Sam thought he heard either a gasp or a hitch of breath as she continued

“ _I’m sorry Tina, once this that is all done, go down to Road’s I’ve already sent a letter of recommendation for you there, please don’t wait around for me_.”

With that the line clicked off. The boys eyes met over the head of Tina, this was so not good. Sam thanked the woman for helping them out and gave her his number, should she remember anything else. The boys got back in the car and Dean threw her in drive. Sam looked concerned at Dean’s set jaw and fire in his eyes,

“ _Dean? Where are we going_?”

“ _Get me everything you can on the hunts KT has sent the others on, where going to retrace her steps, hopefully one of them will get us to her_.”

Sam nodded, they had work to do. Dean pressed down harder on the gas, the longer the girl stayed missing the angrier Dean was getting, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**A year earlier: Virginia**

            Sam and Dean were creeping towards the old abandoned barn. This was the supposed location of the nest of ghouls they had been tracking. Gun and flashlights in hand they crept to the window as they peered in expecting to find the ghouls with their latest meal they were met with, nothing. The brothers looked at each other and Dean shrugged as he made his way around the barn as Sam held his position. Soon Dean returned,

“ _There’s nothing here, not even a speck of blood, I guess your intel was wrong Sammy_.”

Sam frowned,

“ _They were here, I know this is where their nest was, they must have seen us coming and taken off into the woods or something_.”

Dean shrugged and started walking towards the woods, soon Sam heard him let out a low whistle.

“ _Well something went down all right_ ”

Sam made his way to Dean’s side to see him looking down at what appeared to be five freshly dug graves and the no longer smoldering remains of a pyre.

“ _Well, it looks like someone got here fist Sammy_ ”

Sam began to take a full look at their surroundings, there was no sign of who had taken out the ghouls, everything was clean. Sam closed his eyes seeing if his other senses could pick anything up, there was a slight scent on the air, breathing in deeply he could pick up vanilla, caramel, and amber. Sam smiled he knew who was behind this. He grabbed Dean and headed back to the car he’d explain on the way.

            Sam and Dean walked into the bar and the first thing they saw was the hunter, her hair pulled back in a French braid, green flannel shirt unbuttoned to reveal a grey V-neck shirt, black jeans and trade mark black combat boots. KT smiled as she held up her glass of bourbon and took a long sip. She tiled her head indicating the two glasses of bourbon neat sitting on the bar next to her,

“ _Took you long enough_ ”

            Several glasses of bourbon later Sam was off playing pool while Dean leaned back on his bar stool, and surveyed the bar. A man who has been eyeing KT for the past half hour appeared to have finally worked up the courage to head over. He leaned down into KTs space and started out trying to be smooth,

“ _Hey haven’t seen you hear before_ ”

KT jumped about half a foot off her bar stool before regaining some composure, leaning far away from the man shaking her head,

“ _no no, just passing through, not here long_ ”

Dean watched as KTs eyes darted around not being able to settle on the man for more then a moment before having to look down at the ground. This was strange, when Dean thought about KT he thought about grab life or a hunter by the balls, full of snark and fire. This girl was a scared mouse. The guy gave one more smile and stood back up,

“ _Well, miss just passing though, it’s no fun drinking alone at the bar, if you want a little company I’m right over there_ ”

he inclined his head towards the booths and with one more smile made his way back to where he has been seated. KT let out a large breath that she must have been holding the entire encounter. She took another sip of her drink as Dean raised an eyebrow,

“ _What was that cupcake_?”

KT looked startled like she had forgotten Dean was there, he watched as the nervousness was replaced by KTs trademark smirk that Dean was starting to suspect was a mask for a lot of layers hidden underneath.

“ _What, that? Nothing, he just took me by surprise is all. It’s been a while since I’ve flirted with anyone besides a hunter, figure they like the more wilting flower then fire and brimstone right?”_

It was a flimsy excuse and Dean could see they had enough liquor flowing between the two of them that if he pressed it, he may get an answer from her. But Dean had a rule, no chick flick moments, what if he broke through too many walls, he didn’t think he’d be able to put her back together again. Instead he gave KT a smile held up his glass of bourbon and said.

“ _Right, fake it till you make it_ ”

KT frowned for a moment but it was quickly replaced by a smirk as she downed her glass of bourbon.

“ _Fake it till you make it_ ”

As she slid off the bar stool and headed towards the booths on slightly shaky legs Dean couldn’t help but feel some regret and he couldn’t help feel like he was missing something. When he turned back the guy and KT were gone, of course if he hadn’t been so lost in thought he would have seen that they left in separate directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Frederick, Maryland**

“ _Please just let me go I wont tell anyone_ ”

The brunet woman pleaded. Eric was growing impatient.

“ _No, it’s too early she didn’t start begging yet, she was tough, that’s what made him taking her apart and breaking her so satisfying_ ”

Eric began to grin as he drew one clawed hand down the girl’s cheek, but his grin quickly turned into a grimace as he reared back and struck her across the face,

“ _until that bitch screwed it up_!”

Eric took a breath and composed himself,

“ _Now, here’s what’s going to happen, we’re going to watch this video and I’m going to do to you exactly what he did to her, except I’m going to get the ending right. I’m going to kill you_.”

The girl’s eyes widened as she watched the young woman on the screen being brutally tortured. Eric had been showing her clips from this video for days, it was horrifying and what he was doing to her was unbearable. Eric ripped into the wounds in her back again and she screamed. Eric saw red as he continued to hack into her with claws and knives and cut her down with words. When it was all done her lifeless body hung limply from the chains, not much was left of the girl he’d grabbed a week and a half ago It wasn’t enough, it’s never enough. He’d repeated this process four times already, one a month since his mentor had been murdered. He recreated the final session he had had, but it wasn’t enough. He needed the real thing. He was getting closer to finding her, it was only a matter of time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Ohio**

            Sam rubbed his temples, Dean had the music blasting so loud he could barley think straight, but he could tell by the tick in Dean’s jaw and his hands clenched around the steering wheel that mentioning the music would result in loss of life and or limb. It had been two weeks of following leads but every hunt they retraced got them nowhere. They still had no idea where KT was and none of the other hunters they spoke to had any idea either. If it wasn’t for the voicemails and hunter packets it was as if she’d dropped off the face of the earth. When they find her the first thing Sam is having her do is teach him how to hack into the phone GPS because that trick would come in super handy right now.

            Sam was getting increasingly worried, truthfully his worry had ratcheted up the second they saw that KT had closed her clinic. While everyone else knew KT as the snarky hunter, not many knew of her daytime persona. Of the doctor that cared so much for her patience she rarely got a lunch break, or a pee break or a mental breakdown break. Sam laid his head back on the passenger seat closing his eyes trying to block out the music blaring out at him and remembered a quiet moment he had had with the young hunter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**A year and a half earlier: Roxbury, New York**

            Sam knew she wouldn’t like it, he and Dean were really running low on supplies and he needed some meds quickly. He let himself in through the back of the clinic, he figured the less people saw him the better. He stopped right before he rounded the corner when he heard KT talking, a hitch in her voice,

“ _I’m sorry, there’s nothing more I can do. But I promise I’ll make it so it doesn’t hurt anymore_ ”

KT was petting what appeared to be a King Charles Spaniel, she was running her hands through its silky fur. A tear ran down her face and she looked down at the dog.

“ _Ok Sophie, chin up right? One more show. I’m going to take you back to your mom so she can say goodbye and then it’s time right_?”

The dog looked up at her with sad eyes and let out a low cough. With that KT straightened up, the mask of professionalism fell into place and she carried the dog into an exam room. Sam waited, KT emerged several minutes later carrying the dog that was no longer a part of this world in her arms. She murmured one last,

“ _I’m so sorry for your loss_ ” as she left the room. As the door closed her shoulders crumbled just a bit. Sam watched as she laid the dog down on the treatment table. She quietly removed the IV from the dog’s leg, smoothed out the dogs fur with a towel and wrapped her in a blanket. All while she worked she murmured to the now diseased dog.

“ _Four more years Sophie, you and me we gave your mom four more years. When you got to me you were practically blue you couldn’t get any air in_ ”

KT leaned conspiratorially down to the dog

“ _Congestive heart failure will do that to. But the treatments got you four more good years. You saw Tommy graduate from high school, and you saw your mom get that promotion she’s been working towards. Not so bad right? I’m sorry I couldn’t get you to Tommy’s college graduation, I tried to at least get you to his Christmas break but it just wasn’t in the cards. Rest now, you were a good dog_.”

With that KT finished wrapping up the body and placed it in a small white box. Sam didn’t know what to do, he felt like he had intruded in a very private moment. He backed out slowly and quietly leaned against the back ally wall of the clinic. About five minutes later KT appeared. She looked over at Sam, her eyes looked tired but he didn’t see the anger he expected.

“ _Though that was you Winchester_.”

“ _How did you know_?”

KT smiled a small smile and tapped her nose.

“ _You’ve got a scent about you, very distinct. You and your brother. Scent is a good thing to learn Sam it will help you when they’re are no visual cues. Vampire’s smell like dried blood and a faint smell of rot, werewolves they smell like wet dog and soil. Actually I’ve got a list of monster scents, any monster I’ve hunted more then once is on the list, I’ll email it to you ”_

Sam was both intrigued and confused,

“ _Don’t think just because you distract me with monster information I’ll forget that you apparently have been scenting me and my brother…wait why do you have to hunt the monster type twice before it makes it to the list?”_

KT smiled,

“ _Because I have to be sure it’s the monster scent and not just a particular singular smelly monster.”_

Sam raised an eyebrow,

_“I didn’t know research came with so many rules.”_

_“Of course there are rules to research, I’d send you the rule book but that file would be too big to email”_

Sam left out a startled laugh,

“ _Well alright then. So about that scenting me thing?”_

KT stayed silent, Sam crossed his arms and fixed KT with a stare. KT sighed,

“ _Your brother, he smells like gun oil and leather with the faintest hint of whiskey, and you, well you smell like gun oil as well but yours is mixed with pine and vanilla_.”

Sam started at that.

“ _Vanilla? I don’t use any vanilla products_ ”

KT let out a low chuckle at Sam’s mild outrage.

“ _It’s all the old books you’ve got your nose in all day. Old books when they start to break down, the cellulose and lignin gives off a scent. The vanillin smells like vanilla and that component seems to stick to you faintly_.”

Sam just started at KT as if he looked long enough he could figure the complex young woman out. KT started to get uncomfortable under the hunters scrutiny. He could tell when the quiet woman put on her hunter mask as she turned to him,

“ _So stretch, what brings you to my neck of the woods_ ”

After that it was all business, but Sam made sure to catalogue KTs scent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Ohio**

            Sam frowned, closing his eyes was not blocking out Dean’s music. He heard his phone let out a beep, which indicated he had a voicemail. He sucked in a breath and hit Dean’s arm when he saw whom the message was from. Dean turned the music off as Sam hit play. KTs voice filtered though the phone, but this time she didn’t sound cocky, she sounded desperate,

“ _Sam, hey listen. I know I haven’t answered your messages. Thanks for taking care of the Wendigo by the way. But look I’ve got a hunt, and I need you boys to take care of it. And I need you to take care of it now. I can’t take no for an answer on this one. Look I know you’re in Ohio, but I need Dean to turn around right now and start heading for Maryland. There’s no time to send you an info packet by mail. So Sam I’m e-mailing you everything I have on this. But seriously, this needs to be taken care of now. Drive all night if you can, I’ll include a list of drive though coffee places and all night gas stations on the fastest route to get there. Thanks boys…and boys…stop looking for me, it’s not worth it._ ”

The phone clicked as the voicemail ended. Dean turned the Impala around and Sam refreshed his email on his phone. As he saw the one message from KT in his inbox he smiled. Tracking her physically wasn’t working, but with this e-mail Sam could track her digitally. He’d find her in no time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Corner Diner, Frederick, Maryland**

            Sally pulled her blond hair back into a ponytail as she went back out onto the main floor. She was on a double shift at the diner and the late night shift always had a surlier crowd, except for spectacle dude as she had taken to calling him in her head. He always sat in the corner, usually he drank black coffee and used their Internet until either the place got too full or they closed for the night. He was a scrawny looking guy, stringy black hair that would fall in front of his face and black-rimmed glasses. Sometimes some of the diner’s trucker patrons would give him a hard time, but he ignored it, when it got too bad Sally usually tried to sneak him a piece of pie or a muffin he seemed nice enough, no reason not to be nice to him.

            As Sally went up to her first table with three surely looking men the one closet to her gave a whistle,

“ _Well were have you been all my life hot stuff_ ”  
Sally looked at him as she freshened up their coffee,

“ _Probably grade school, old man_ ”

The mans friends all started to laugh as Sally took their order and walked off put it into the system. She walked by spectacle dude and smiled,

“ _hey would you like a refill sweetness_?”

The man smiled and fumbled with his coffee cup and he pushed it closer to her. Sally topped it off and with one more smile walked off. The man watched her go and as she disappeared behind the kitchen doors he thought to himself,

“ _She’s not like the others, she could be my queen_ ”

With that Eric closed his laptop, paid his check, and walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Do Drop In Motel, Frederick, Maryland**

            Sam shook his head as he continued to comb over the info KT had e-mailed him. There was a lot of info there. It seemed that KT suspected a werewolf with a sadistic streak was capturing girls, five girls in five months, all in their twenties, brown hair, brown eyes. It seemed most of them went missing from the same bar, and were found 1.5 weeks after their abduction with signs that they had been brutally tortured before finally having their hearts ripped out. Sam pulled on his hair, he had hit a dead end. It was clear from KTs notes that she thinks this werewolf used to take victims to a certain cabin but she believes he’d moved on to a different location but had not pinned down where yet. He didn’t know where else to look in this case, he wanted to solve it, KT sounded off when she left them the message about it, but he just didn’t know where else to look. Giving his brain a break he checked his tracking software that was searching out where KT had sent her email from, so far it had not pinged back a location. Sam put his forehead on the table and rolled it back and forth on the cold surface.

He was startled from a slight dose as Dean walked through the door, FBI suite on, coffee in each hand, and a file under his arm. Dean handed one of the coffees to Sam and tossed the file on the table. Sam looked up at him,

“ _Any luck_?”

Dean grunted non-committedly,

“ _Not much more, saw the last body and man I haven’t seen that much pain inflicted on one body in, I don’t think ever. I went by and saw the old cabin and man that place just screams sadistic torture chamber but it doesn’t look like anyone’s been in there for a long time. I did find this flannel there_ ”

Dean reached into his back pocket and tossed a piece of fabric presumably part of a shirt onto the table. Dean began laying out the photos of all the victims,

“ _Also, take a look at these photos tell me if you see any similarities_?”

“ _We already know there’s an MO Dean, brown hair, brown eyes, twenties_ ”

The rest of his statement died off as he looked at all five victims side by side. Sam swallowed and picked up the piece of fabric closing his eyes for a moment he took a breath in, and caught a very faint but very familiar scent. His stomach dropped as he answered the question his brother had asked.

“ _They all look like KT_ ”

Sam’s grip tightened on the cloth in his hand. He heard his email trace send back a ping that they’d gotten a location. Sam glanced at the computer and the blood drained from his face.

“ _Dean we need to move now, grab your gear and get moving_ ”

Dean stood still for a moment as his brother rushed out towards the impala, grabbing weapons as he went. He glanced down at the computer and immediately took off after his brother. The computer sat forgotten on the table, last search open on the screen. “Email origin found: sent from Hasty Stay Motel, Frederick Maryland”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Hasty Stay Motel**

            Sam stayed in the Impala as Dean went to charm the desk clerk into trying to figure out where KT was. It took a while but when Dean emerged the grin on his face was a mile wide.

“ _Alright Sammy so our dear cousin Belinda Carlisle has been staying here for around five months. Apparently she doesn’t leave the room much, she used to leave regularly twice a week at the same time and then a third time where she’d return with groceries. Though the last two months she really only goes out once a week for groceries. And would you know it she’s out right now getting those groceries. So lets go take a look what cousin B has been up to_.”

“ _Dean, we can’t break into her room. Think about how pissed she’d be_ ”

“ _Yeah, I don’t care how pissed she’d be Sammy, she’s been off the grid for five months, she wont pick up the phone and oh there’s a sadistic werewolf murdering girls that look like her. The sooner I find out what’s going on the sooner we can gank the son of a bitch and get KT to rejoin the real world_.”

Sam knew there was no arguing with his brother when he took that I’ll punch you in the nose if you disagree with me tone, so he decided to cover his brother as he made quick work of the motel doors lock.

            When they entered the motel it was like entering an FBI profile room. There was a table piled high with lore books, a laptop and a printer. The majority of the room was filled with different cork boards all with their own hunt varying in phases from just one or two newspaper clippings to full thought out hunts which Sam assumed would soon be packed up and shipped to various hunters as handy dandy hunter packets. The most complex and terrifying looking board housed the info on the case that the Winchester’s were currently investigating and had run dry. Dean let out a low whistle,

“ _Damn Sammy this place is one ball of red yarn away from being a full on cuckoo’s nest. What happened to you KT_?”

Dean picked up one of the ancient tome sitting on the table but soon dropped it as he heard the raised voice behind him

“ _WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?”_

The boys spun around to see a very angry KT standing in the doorway. One grocery bag in her right hand, her hair was pulled back into a messy low ponytail; she walked slowly to the little kitchenette in the room and put her grocery bag down on the counter.

“ _I remember asking you to look into a werewolf case and help save another young girl from being captured and having her heart ripped out, I do not believe I asked you to illegally track me and break into my room_.”

At that Dean lost his shocked look and began to pace, arms moving rapidly as he spoke,

“ _Excuse me? You didn’t ask us anything, asking would involve talking to us, which you haven’t been doing. You haven’t been talking to anyone, you’ve been hold up in here playing rain man or what ever you’ve been doing in here for months. Oh and lets see while you’ve been hold up here five girls, five, in the very town you’ve been hiding out in have been in have gone missing, that’s not on us, that’s on you_.”

KT gasped as if she had been punched in the gut, she looked up, the hurt and anger in her eyes took Sam’s breath away, there was something else there but he couldn’t quiet figure out what it meant he was too preoccupied with watching her vibrate with rage he was preparing for a punch or something worse. KT crossed her left arm across her stomach and held onto her shirt and she stormed over to the door, she seemed to rock heavily to the right side as she stomped. She ripped open the door and turned around and in a voice as cold as ice she said,

“ _Get. Out_.”

She fixed them both with a glare so cold it took the fight right out of Dean, his cheeks colored in embarrassment as they headed towards the door. Sam started babbling knowing it was very likely KT was going to pack up and run and he didn’t know if he’d be able to find her a second time.

“ _Listen KT we’re sorry about breaking in but you’ve had us really worried, we didn’t know where you were or what had happened to you and it’s just-“_

“ _Enough! Get. Out. Now. Do not come back here, do not look for me. You find that werewolf and you stop any more girls from being taken do you understand me. Stop trying to contact me, it’s not worth it_.”

The last few words were said so quietly Sam wasn’t sure if she said them or if he’d imagined them. But as he looked at KT one last time before leaving, he didn’t see the anger in her eyes anymore, only hurt and it broke his heart a little bit as the door slammed in his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Corner Diner, Frederick Maryland**

            Eric waited in the shadows for Sally’s shift to be over, as she exited the diner she rummaged in her purse for her keys. Eric walked up to her,

“ _Excuse me_?”

Sally startled and dropped her keys on the ground, when she noticed who had spoken to her she let out a sign of relief

“ _Oh it’s you, you scared me_ ”

Eric let out a dry chuckle

“ _You know you really shouldn’t be out here alone, you know there’s some bad people out in the world, please let me walk you to your car, I’ll feel better knowing you got there safely_.”

Sally smiled and took his proffered arm, as they walked into the darkened parking lot she didn’t notice Eric’s smile turn sinister or his eyes take on a yellow hue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Do Drop In Motel, Frederick Maryland**

            Sam sat at the table, combing through the stack of info for the case at hand as Dean paced back and forth on worn motel carpet. Sam slammed the book he had open and looked up at Dean,

“ _Would you stop pacing?! I can’t hear myself think over the anger waves you’re sending off_.”

Dean stopped for about ten seconds before resuming his pacing and a minute later added in muttering,

“ _It just doesn’t make sense, she’s right here, she’s been here the whole time, five girls have been abducted and she’s been here. Since when does KT sit back and let people get hurt? How many times have we heard about her taking on hunts herself that should have taken multiple hunters? How many times have we shown up to a hunt and it’s already done and we’re just met with that KT grin? How many times-_ “

The wheels in Sam’s head started turning, suddenly a lot of things that had happened in KTs motel room started to make themselves known.

“ _Dean shut up for a second_.”

With the urgency in Sam’s voice Dean had the smart idea of shutting his mouth and sitting down on the nearest motel bed. Sam started tapping his pencil against the journal where he was taking notes.

“ _Think about KT, what happened the one time you picked the lock to her clinic and let yourself in_?”

Dean smiled at the memory,

“ _She punched me right in the nose_ ”

“ _Exactly, and what did she do today when we broke into her motel room and went through all her stuff_.”

Dean frowned,

“ _She got mad, but, it was a weird mad, she was almost manic about it_.”

Sam nodded,

“ _Yeah but it felt like the manic wasn’t about us going through her stuff, it was more she wanted us to get out as soon as possible. The longer we were there the more desperate she became_.”

Sam paused closed his eyes and tried to replay the scene in his head, he opened his eyes and looked at Dean,

“ _She didn’t swing her arm_ ”

Dean furrowed his brow,  
“ _I’m sorry what? Are we in a Seinfeld episode right now_?

“ _No Dean, her left arm, when she came in the room she only held things in her right arm, and when she got angry at us she gripped her shirt with her left arm, bracing it, as if she knew if she got mad and started moving it she’d hurt herself. Think about how KT usually is when she gets worked up, both her hands and arms gesticulate with reckless abandon. Do you remember the one time she broke like 3 lamps because she was telling us how Rob screwed her on an ammo supply run? She didn’t move her left arm once today_.”

That’s when Dean really started to replay the day in his head his dad’s training kicking in,

“ _Her gate was off, something’s wrong with her right knee, that’s why she listed to the side when she stormed to the door_ ”

Sam pulled the piece of fabric from the original werewolf den out of his pocket and looked at it. One word on KTs werewolf pin board came into his minds eye. His voice was low and solemn when he voiced his newest thought,

“ _Dean, originally I thought maybe the werewolf had taken this, like caught her scent in a bar and has since been catching girls like her gearing up to grab her. But, what if it was left there, what if she was the first victim. I saw on her freaky mind board it said, apprentice. What if she killed the werewolf who did this to her and his apprentice is grabbing girls like her for revenge_?”

Dean closed his eyes for a minute,

“ _You think all those things done to those girls, was done to KT_ ”

Sam nodded. Dean and Sam both looked down for a moment, lost in their own thoughts. Dean looked up first,

“ _Well alright then, we’ve got to go back. You know that girl as well as I do, if she got tortured you know she didn’t take care of herself, and her own freaky mind coupled with what I said to her today_ ” Dean paused hurt and guilt reflecting in his eyes,

“ _She’s got to be a in a spiral of blaming herself for all this_.”

Sam nodded; he began packing up his things. Soon the Winchester boys were packed up and heading towards KTs motel, both lost in their own thoughts the only sound between them was the purring of Baby’s engine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present Day: Hasty Stay Motel**

            Dean had been pounding on the motel door for a good five minutes but there was no answer.

“ _KT come on, we need to talk, we’ve uh, we’ve come to realize some things and well for starters I want to apologize to you…come on KT don’t make me bare by soul to a door…no… alright well-“_

“ _Dean, stop, I don’t think she’s in there_.”

Sam put his hand on the doorknob and it turned, it wasn’t locked. The boys drew their guns as they made their way into the room. Dean made his way to the back checking the bathroom and kitchenette, while Sam checked the bed and main area. A scan of the room showed no one was there. The boys put away their weapons as they got a good look at the once pristine room. Every board had been either smashed to pieces or knocked down with all their items ripped off of them. The only board still standing was the werewolf board, though every item had been torn off and ripped to shreds, it seemed only one scrap of paper had survived, Sam mused the push pin must have held on with all its might. It seemed the cups and plates had not faired much better and the room was covered in a fine sheen of ceramic dust.

“ _Dean, do you think she was grabbed by something_?”

Dean looked around, and shook his head,

“ _No, all the wards she drew are still in place, salt line is untouched, and all the paper is shredded in a right to left motion, I would bet KT trashed this place herself_.”

“ _Something must have caused her to wreck the place and run_ ”  
Dean rolled his eyes,

“ _Yeah Sam, we did. Well I did, I told her those girls murders were her fault_ ”

Sam shook his head,

 _“KT doesn’t smash things when she’s feeling guilty, she usually hides herself somewhere, she smashes things when a monster gets one up on her_.”

Sam walked across the room, he caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. He stopped walking and took a deep breath.

“ _Wet dog and soil, damn it_!”

Dean looked over at his brother who appeared to be rummaging through the TV stand and sniffing.

“ _Um…Sam…you want to share with the class_?”

“ _Something over here, it was touched by a werewolf, I can smell it_.”

Dean pulled a face,

“ _What are you a blood hound_?”

Sam ignored his brother and continued to sift through the pile of books, remotes, and a videotape. His hands paused on the tape, it was the only one here, he picked it up and examined it closer. All the label said was “watch me”. Sam put the tape in the tape player of the antiquated TV; for once thankful the motel of the week hadn’t updated their technology since the 90’s. The tape was as the end, as he pressed rewind his breathing rate began to increase, he didn’t know what was on this tape but he knew he didn’t want to watch it, but he knew he had to. The tape had finished rewinding; Sam tried to regulate his breathing as he pressed play.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Videotape**

            The camera roll started with a shot of a dirty floor, a pair of combat boots could be seen, from the looks of it the inhabitance of the shoes was hanging or being lifted because only the very tips of the toes of the shoes touched the floor. The camera was readjusted and KT was brought into full view, she was hanging from a pair of shackles hooked in a ring in the ceiling. She was bleeding from a wound on her head and was just starting to regain consciousness. With a moan her brain started to come back online, she started muttering to herself,

“ _I don’t understand, he was in front of me, how’d he get the drop on me_?”

A chuckle could be heard coming from behind the camera.

“ _Oh little hunter you don’t understand yet, but you will, I’m better then you. I always win_.”

KTs head snapped up as she finally began to realize where she was, and that she wasn’t alone. She quickly categorized her surroundings, one werewolf, chained up in a cabin by her wrists, chained too high up to use her legs for leverage, she’d have to bide her time. The defiant come and try me look came into the hunters eye as she stretched her hands in the shackles above her head

“ _Hmm, that’s quiet an ego you’ve got there Fido, but I don’t think that little love tap you gave me on the back of the head really counts as winning_.”  
The werewolf sneered at her,

“ _Oh trust me little girl that was just a warm up, what I’m going to do to you? Oh you’ll wish that the blow to the head had killed you_.”

The werewolf opened a box he kept in the corner and started laying out various instruments of torture. KT began pulling on her shackles as his back was turned. The werewolf turned around again knife in his hand,  
“ _Alright little girl lets get started shall we.”_  
KT pursed her lips as if she was really thinking about it.

“ _Hmm, you know I don’t think I’m quiet ready. We haven’t been properly introduced yet, I’m KT, your worst nightmare and you are_?”

The werewolf’s lips curled up into a snarl,

“ _You think you’re cute but every insolent thing you say will just make this worse for you. I’ve been dolling out torture for a very long time. I’ve taken down hunters much bigger and stronger then you little girl, you will learn your place soon enough. If you want this to go quickly for you, you may address me as Sir, Victor, or_ ” his lip curled up in a sadistic gleam “ _master_ ”.

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _What is with all you evil son’s of bitches wanting to be called master? Is there some kinky monster S &M bar you all go to_?”

Victor reared back and slapped KT so hard across the face that her head snapped back and she swung dangerously from the chains. As she stopped swaying she leveled her head to stare into the eyes of her captor,

“ _That all you got Vick? My grandmother hits harder then you_ ”

The claws on Victor’s hand came out and he slashed clear across her chest. KT let out a scream of pain. Victor held up his claw marveling at the blood dripping from his nails,

“ _You know, normally I like to keep my hands clean, I prefer a more structured form to this type of work, but you_ ” Victors eyes snapped up to look at KTs face

“ _With you I think I’ll enjoy getting my hands dirty_ ”

With that be brought his bloodied claw up to his lips and licked the blood clean off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Hasty Stay Motel**

            Deans hand clenched subconsciously against the hilt of his gun as he watched the horrors unfold on the video. As the brothers watched KT continue to mouth off to the werewolf and suffer for it Dean slammed his hand down on the night stand,

“ _Damn girl never knew when to keep her mouth shut_!”

Sam silently agreed with his brother but he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen. They had already watched what must have been a days worth of torture, the camera would shut off when presumably KT lost consciousness for a while or Victor left to do what ever it was he did when he wasn’t sadistically torturing the mouthy hunter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Videotape**

            KT appeared to be getting tired, she hung limply on the shackles, but where before only the tips of her toes had touched the ground it appeared now her left foot could rest the whole ball of her foot on the ground, but she would only take the chance to do so when Victor’s back was turned. As Victor once again turned to her, this time he had a white-hot iron poker in his hand, he started by driving the burning metal into her thigh. KT bit her lip to keep from crying out. Victor sneered,

“ _Oh I see how it is, trying to be all brave, show the world that you’re a big bad hunter, but you know you’re not right? Deep down you’re just a scared little girl, good for nothing. You hide behind your snarky words and your I’ll kill a man eyeliner but really you’re not worth anyone’s time. Look here you’ve been here what two, three days? Has anyone come looking for you? No_.”

“ _No one’s come looking for me because I eat posers like you for breakfast, you keep laughing there fluff ball but sooner or later I will get free and when I do, you’ll wish you had never been born_ ”

Victor grabbed another iron from the fire,

“ _Let’s see you keep that look in your eyes after I poke one out_ ”

Victor moved the drive the poker into KTs left eye. Suddenly she planted her foot, using the leverage she drove her right leg into Victors chest. Victor fell to the ground and KT used her momentum to grab the tail of the chain, which left her shackled, but free from the ceiling. She spun around and made for the torture box, but Victor grabbed her leg. She got one more good kick in, likely cracking some ribs but Victor’s supernatural strength coupled with KTs multi day captivity left her weakened.

“ _You Bitch_!” Victor snarled.

As he dragged her back over to the wall he noticed something,

“ _Well well well, did you really dislocate your shoulder to drop down lower? What an interesting party trick_ ”

With that he grabbed her left arm, with the shackles not being held against the ceiling yet he had room to maneuver, he wrenched her arm behind her back until he heard a resounding crack.

“ _There now it’s dislocated and your scapula is shattered. Good luck getting any leverage again_.”

Victor chained her back to the ceiling; her left arm was set at a horrible angle above her head. Victor walked back over to the table,

“ _I must admit that was quiet some move little girl but looks like you failed once again. How many people in your life have you failed hmm? I think I’m going to let you hang there for a while, think about your latest failure, I’m sure it’s preceded by a long list of others, but one more thing before I go_.”

Victor spun around, hammer in hand, he swung out and slammed the blunt tool into KTs right knee. KT screamed and slumped into the shackles, an impressive feet given that when Victor had strung her up he’d lifted her clear off the ground. KT slipped into darkness as Victor reached over and turned of the camera.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Hasty Stay Motel**

            Dean threw the phone against the wall smashing it to bits, it was the last thing in the room besides the furniture that hadn’t already been smashed. Sam’s jaw was clenched so tightly it was a miracle he hadn’t cracked any teeth. The boys continued to watch in silence as what must have been days upon days of torture. Victor continued to take KT apart piece by piece always making sure to spend some extra time with her decimated left shoulder and right knee. After that failed escape attempt it was almost as if the fight had left KT. She barley spoke anymore, her eyes were practically vacant. As Victor continued to cut into her with knives and claws and iron he made sure to also keep a constant stream of verbal abuse. Sam lost count how many times he told KT she was good for nothing and worthless, how he’d mock her about being alone and that no one would be coming for her, and no one would miss her when she was gone finally. He knew that look in her eyes, she believed every word coming out of that vial mans mouth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Videotape**

            Victor smiled, he had just finished up another round of torture, but it was time to wrap things up. He turned to what was left of the hunter hanging from the ceiling,

“ _So little girl this has been fun but I think it’s time we finish up here, you were fun for a bit but I’ve grown board with you, which I’m sure is something you’re accustomed to isn’t it? Most people find your snarky exterior entertaining for a short while but once they see the real you they grow board and leave_?”

KT didn’t answer, she barley stirred in her bindings. Victor drew out the knife he reserved for the final act of his sessions and stalked over to the hunter,

“ _I want you to know that this little hero act has fueled my rage, when I’m done with you I’m going to triple my efforts. A new girl every week. And each one will get the same treatment as you_.”

With that KT twitched.

“ _That’s right little girl, with your last dying breath know that countless girls torture and murder will be your fault, your greatest failure_.”

KT looked up, that defiant look that had been missing these past few days was back in her eyes,

“ _That’s where you’re wrong Vick, I’m going to be Your greatest failure_ ”

Quicker then a blink of the eye KT grabbed her right thumb in her almost useless left hand, she used the force of the shackles to wrench it back breaking the digit at the base. It allowed her enough room to work her right hand free of the shackle that held her. Dangling by her shredded left arm, it looked as if the arm would sever from the hunter’s body. She grabbed the knife out of the shocked werewolves hands and plunged it into his chest. With a gasp he fell to the ground dead. KT hung there for a moment gasping for air. Finally she gathered her strength and swung herself towards the wall, the unnatural movement in her shoulder was unnerving. She released herself from the wall her left arm falling against her side and staying there. She grabbed the arm and attempted to plunge the offending shoulder back into place but with the broken bones and ripped tendons and ligaments it had no place to go. KT let out a guttural scream and dropped to her knees. It looked as if landing on her shattered knee would make her black out, just as she was about to give into the darkness she caught a glimpse of the dead man on the floor next to her. Her lips curled up in a sneer,

“ _What sort of self righteous asshole werewolf uses a SILVER knife to do his ritual killings?!”_

With that she picked herself off the ground and stumbled out the door. She could barley put any weight on her right leg and the way she was gripping her arm screamed of pain. The camera stayed on the now lifeless room, the pool of blood oozing out of the body slowly growing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Hasty Stay Motel**

            Dean couldn’t take his eyes off the screen, he spoke in a low voice,

“ _I almost wish that bastard wasn’t dead so I could kill him all over again. He didn’t die nearly slow enough_.”

Sam nodded as Dean continued,

“ _She was there for days, she dragged herself out of that hell hole and what came here? There’s no way she patched herself up with all that blood loss and god that shoulder_.”

Dean shivered thinking how the limb had hung so unnaturally. Sam was about to open his mouth to offer his thoughts when the video went black, both brothers turned to the television as a new face appeared on the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Videotape**

            Eric’s face appeared close up his face taking up the whole frame.

“ _You know how you couldn’t figure out how Victor got the drop on you? That’s because he wasn’t working alone_ ”

The vile looking man smiled fondly at the memory,

“ _He was a great man my mentor, taught me everything I know about the art of torture. Don’t just break a bone, tear the flesh around it. A well-placed slice to the flesh can cause more pain then a blunt punch. The way he tortured you, mmm it was exquisite, I think it was his greatest masterpiece_ ”

Eric closed his eyes for a minute reveling in his memories, but when he opened his eyes they were filled with loathing,

“ _But then you had to screw it all up! You sniveling little bitch! You killed him!! Do you have any idea how it felt to walk into that cabin and find him dead! To watch the video was unbearable_!”

Eric took a breath seemingly trying to calm his nerves.

“ _So, I’ve been working on finishing his masterpiece, at first I thought taking those girls and recreating his final act would be enough, but it wasn’t. Pity, none of those girls were quiet as snarky as you. So I have a proposition for you_.”

Eric grabbed the camera, moving the frame and refocusing on Sally chained up in the corner of a room.

“ _You see I like this one, I don’t want to hurt her_ ”

Eric walked over and stroked his hand down her face, she tried to recoil in horror. Eric turned back to the camera,

“ _But I will, I will do every single thing done to you, to her. And then I think I’ll do it all over again and I’ll keep killing more and more girls, over and over…or…you come to me, I’ll release the girl and finish what my master started with you. You’re a smart girl, figure out where I am and get here soon, I can’t guarantee I can stem my blood lust for long_.”

The last thing heard before the screen went black was a blood-curdling scream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Hasty Stay Motel**

“ _Shit!_ ” Dean yelled

Sam began looking around, trying to find any sign of where the man had taken that girl. The location of the new lair was the one piece in the puzzle they hadn’t been able to solve.

“ _KT had to have figured out where they went and gone to make the deal, but she didn’t leave us any indication where she went_.”

Dean kicked one of the boards on the ground,

“ _Of course she didn’t, she doesn’t think she’s coming back from this. She doesn’t think she’s worthy of saving_.”

Sam’s eyes focused on the one board still standing. The little fleck of paper still stuck to the board caught his eye. He got up and quickly crossed the room, close up he could see the paper was part of a map. The pin was sticking out of an old camp ground long since abandoned in the woods about half an hour from their current location. He had to thank his lucky starts that KT was always thorough, she may have tried to hide her research from them, but the hunter could never resist putting a pin in the location of the hunt. In her haste to tear everything down she never noticed that one pin was the one to stubbornly stay in the board.

“ _Grab your gear Dean I know where they are_.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: Campgrounds**

            Sam and Dean parked outside the campgrounds and headed in on foot. They began searching each cabin, they had come up empty so far until they heard a metallic buzzing noise followed by a scream. Both men gripped their guns tighter and headed towards the noise. As they crept towards the window Dean tensed when he saw the situation that was enfolding.

            KT once again hung from shackles on the ceiling, Eric wasn’t taking any chances, KT’s feet weren’t even close to touching the ground. Eric had made sure to wrench her arms behind her head before chaining them from the ceiling, Sam’s shoulder ached just looking at that position he couldn’t even imagine how that would feel after the abuse KTs shoulder had already taken. Her head was hanging low, it appeared Eric had gotten a good amount of blows in before the boys had arrived on the scene. The girl from the video was tied up in the corner, she appeared mostly unharmed besides a gash on her cheek. Eric stood in the middle of the room, spine straight, shoulders back, the source of the buzzing sound soon became clear as the Winchester’s saw the cattle prod in his hand. The man leered at KT as we went on explaining his plan,

“ _It’s funny that you thought you could come in here and rescue the girl, what, did you figure that since the operation was a man down you could get a drop on me? You_?”

Eric scoffed,

“ _As if someone as useless as you could take me down, you see my mentor he was a sadistic man, and boy did I love learning from him, but you see since he’s been gone I’ve taken this operation into the 21 st century_.”

With that statement Eric lunged out hitting KT with the cattle prod. Her body jolted in the restraints and she once again let out a scream of pain. When the electric current left her body she once again slumped down.

“ _What is it little girl, did my mentor manage to break that plucky spirit of yours? No bravado this time? No witty banter? Look at me…look at me_!”

When KT didn’t respond he threw down his cattle prod and picked up a knife, he grabbed KTs face holding her head up so he could peer into her eyes. He dragged the knife down her cheek before slicing into her neck. KT gasped but other then that she made no reaction. Dean sucked in a breath; even from here he could see KTs eyes were almost vacant. The fight wasn’t in her, and she was taking what this sadistic freak was saying to heart. The boys didn’t know what to do, with Eric so close to KT there was no way of getting in there without him harming her and how he had positioned both the girl and KT there was no clean shot from any window.

            Eric seemed to tire of toying with KT, he dragged the knife almost lazily down her arm, making little cuts and knicks here or there.

“ _hmm kitten really has lost her claws huh? That’s too bad, I really would have enjoyed breaking you before killing you, but if you aren’t going to be any fun then I guess it’s time I carry on with the rest of my plan_.”

Eric quickly walked over to the girl in the corner, dragging her so she was in front of KT. At the sound of the girls panicked cries KTs head snapped up hardness in her eyes.

“ _You see, I am glad you came hunter, because I really didn’t want to hurt Sally, you see Sally understands me, she’s not like the others_.”

Eric stroked Sally’s cheek, her eyes widened in panic as she began to plead for her life. Eric continued,

“ _Now that I have you to finish up my mentors work, I can take my bride to a place far away and we can live a long life together killing humans whenever the mood strikes_.”

KT shook her head,

“ _You said you would let her go if I came_!”

Eric smiled,

“ _And I will let her go…after I turn her of course. Once she’s like me she will be more then happy to come with me_ ”

Eric’s smile soon turned sinister as his canines began to elongate and Sally began to cry. KT started to struggle in her restraints and finally it was as if she had been brought to life, she let out a low chuckle.

“ _Really? That’s your plan? Turn the girl and she’ll follow you to the ends of the earth. Please, there’s a reason you’re alone, just look at you. Scrawny little geek, nose always in his laptop. She doesn’t ‘get you’, she pities you! Look at that girl I bet she leaves out bowls of dog food for all the strays, what’d she do for you little mongrel? Extra coffee, maybe a muffin_?”

Eric stood up and stormed over to KT, he let out a roar as he slapped her across the face. KT spat out blood as she grinned at the angered man,

“ _Uh oh, hit a nerve_ ”

            Dean was about to throw out any logic and storm into the place when Sam grabbed his arm.

“ _Dean, he dragged Sally over to the door we’ve got a clear shot at getting her out, eliminates one factor_.”

Dean nodded, he crept over to the door he needed to wait until Eric was sufficiently distracted. Judging by the look in KTs eye he would be distracted with rage soon enough. When this was all done with Dean was going to have a talk with that girl about keeping her thoughts to herself. KT grinned again,

“ _Is that all you got fluffy? Is this why you rely on technology, because you have no actually physical prowess, I mean really? You call that a slap? I probably should let you try and bite the girl I doubt you’d even be able to break through the skin_.”

Eric lunged at KT, he punched her in the face, and gut and began kneeing her in the ribs. Dean saw his chance, he opened the door crawled in and dragged Sally out the door. Once they were clear he untied her,

“ _Go! Run, head towards the highway, flag any car down and get as far from here as you can_.”

Sally took off running. When Eric’s anger had subsided a bit he stopped hitting KT in order to catch his breath. KT started laughing, Eric straightened up and looked at her confused,

“ _What’s so funny_?”

“ _Oh nothing much, I’m just thinking about what your face is going to look like when I shoot you in the heart_ ”

Eric rolled his eyes,

“ _You do remember I took all your weapons when I shocked you the first time right_?”

KT nodded,

“ _Of course, I’m not stupid you know_ ”

Eric opened his mouth to reply but he never got the chance, when Eric had changed shackles to avoid the escape KT had succeeded with last time he chose a pair with a lock at the wrists. KT slipped out of the shackles after picking the lock. She dropped down onto her feet, reached between her shoulder blades and pulled out a hidden gun.

“ _But you, you’re stupid for not checking me for a second set of hidden weapons_ ”

The shot range out and Eric fell to the floor dead. KT tucked the gun into the waste of her pants and let out a small laugh,

“ _See? That face? Funny_ ”

As the bravado quickly drained from her body she began to drop to the ground like a marionette that’s strings had been cut. Before she could hit the ground Dean caught her. KT gave a small smile,

“ _Took you long enough_ ”

KT lost consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Do Drop In Motel**

            Dean opened the door to their motel room and dumped their gear on the bed closest to the door, Sam followed behind him, KT was cradled in his arms still unconscious. Sam laid her on the farther bed. Both Winchester’s took a beat and looked down at the crumpled hunter on the bed. Dean took a long look at all the cuts and bruises, judging by her shallow breathing, likely broken ribs and god knows what damage was done to her already messed up shoulder. Dean spun on his heals and walked out of the room. Sam jumped when he heard the rumbling of the Impala’s engine. Sam started cataloging KTs injuries while he worried about where the hell his brother had gone. Several long minutes later Dean returned, Sam turned around anger boiling over at his brother,

“ _Dean! What the hell! I need help here_ ”

Dean nodded and held up a familiar looking sunflower box,

“ _I figured we needed the good stuff_.”

Sam let out a surprised huff of air,

“ _Good thinking, so far I can tell the cut on her forehead needs stitches, the slice on her neck definitely needs stitches, she’s got at least two broken ribs and I think a few others are cracked, her shoulder seems to be dislocated again, though I have no idea if it’s ever been in place. I think some of the bruising on her chest and abdomen may be bad enough to restrict her breathing, and her ankle is badly sprained. I don’t think I’m even half cataloging these injuries and god the scars from the last time, I can’t even fathom_.”

Dean put his hand on Sam’s shoulder,

“ _I know dude, I know, but you can’t start thinking about that right now, triage mode right now bro, find the most life threatening injuries and work from there_.”

Sam turned and grabbed the suturing material from KTs medical box while Dean drew up a painkiller cocktail in a syringe. As Sam turned to start suturing the wound on KTs neck she stirred. A hand weakly grabbed him, stopping him from piercing her skin.

“ _No use the polypropylene suture it’s stronger, the wounds under high tension_ ”

The end of her sentence slurred as her head lulled to the side. A previous memory sprung to Sam’s mind, a less beat up KT looking at him and saying, “ _No offense stretch but I have a policy, if I’m still conscious and capable of holding a needle driver then I’ll patch my self up_.”

Sam shook his head, clearing the past from his mind,

“ _KT, shut up. I am both conscious and capable and I can patch these up. Plus I’m pretty sure Dean’s about to hit you with a dose of the good stuff so you’re not going to be in a position to dictate treatment plans_.”

KT looked up as Dean approached her, she tried to lift her left arm to grab his hand but it barley fluttered, even that much movement seemed to wrack her whole body in shivers of pain,

“ _Hey hey what you got there Dean? You took it from the bottle with the red label right? Because the blue label will do bad th_ -“

KTs words were cut off as Dean injected the medication, which put her back to sleep. It would be better for all three of them if KT was not awake for this.

            Several hours later, seven stitched wounds, ribs wrapped, ankle wrapped and iced, and her shoulder reset. KTs body looked like one giant bruise and the amount of scaring from before was inhuman. As Dean and Sam reset her shoulder, and that’s a memory both boys want to forget, Dean uttered his amazement out loud,

“ _Sammy, how is she going to survive this? How did she survive this the first time?_!”

Sam shook his head, he didn’t have an answer for his brother.

            Over the next few days KT woke occasionally, usually just long enough to take more medication or eat a small amount of soup. It’s clear from the unfocused look in her eyes and her attempt at grounding herself by grabbing which ever man’s wrist is closest that she’s not really present in the room with them.

            As Dean was putting the soup bowl down KT reached out and grabbed his wrist and squeezed, it was barely any pressure. Dean remembered another time KT had grabbed his wrist, it was after a hunt and he reached over to grab something out of KTs bag, she had grabbed his wrist, wrenched it back and held it tight enough for Dean to feel his bones grind together. “ _Don’t touch my stuff pretty boy_ ”. The hand currently holding his wrist was squeezing with about 1/60th of the pressure of the KT from his past memory. As he handed her some more pills the hand let go as she slipped back out of consciousness. Dean turned to his brother,

“ _You know I don’t think KT has ever touched me so nicely before_.”

Sam searched his memories and nodded at Dean,

“ _Yeah I think you’re right. Man she’s going to be pissed when she’s fully back isn’t she_?”

Sam smiled thinking of the fiery hunter yelling at them. He better start clearing the nightstand of things that could potentially maim them if thrown hard enough. Dean crossed his arms, a scowl on his face and his voice up in a slight falsetto,

“ _I can’t believe you thought it was a good idea to wrap my ankle with this type on bandage, hand me my bag now stretch I’ve got to fix all the damage you’ve done_ ”

Sam chuckled at his brothers antics, he was pretty sure Dean’s version of KT was much nicer then the actual version was going to be when she woke up. Sam shook his head, between breaking into her motel again, going through her things, giving her medications and patching her up (the horror, saving someone’s life and taking care of them, but knowing KT that would be their greatest grievance).

            On the seventh day KT finally woke up fully, if the boys knew her reaction when awake they both would have wished see stay unaware longer. KT wouldn’t look either one of them in the eye. She spent most of her time curled up facing the wall. She hadn’t spoken to them since she had woken up, it had been several hours and it was time for her to take some more pills. Sam walked over to the bed and laid a hand on her shoulder, KT jerked so violently from hit touch she fell off the bed. Sam rushed over to help her up but KT scrambled against the wall she was babbling,

“ _No, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t touch me I’ve got this. You should go home, you don’t need to waste time with me. It’s fine_.”

Sam held his hands out in a placating gesture. Dean was standing at the opposite side of the room eyes wide in surprise at KTs panic. Sam inched away as it was clear the closer he got the more agitated KT became.  
“ _Hey, it’s ok, look I’m not touching_.”

KT nodded and started to move to get up, as she shifted it became clear her shoulder had dislocated again in the fall, she let out a gasp. Sam moved towards her again,

“ _Hey, KT, don’t move. Your shoulders out again, why don’t you let me and Dean put that back into place_ ”

KT stood up fast,

“ _No no it’s fine, you need to get back to your lives, no use wasting time fixing me. It’s not worth it, go on it’s fine_ ”

“ _KT someone needs to reset your shoulder_.”

KT nodded, grabbed her left arm and shoved back hard. The shoulder popped back in, Dean almost swallowed his tongue in surprise.

“ _KT what the hell_!”

“ _It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve done it before, I can take care of myself you don’t need to waste time with me. I’m not worth it_.”

“ _I repeat, KT what the hell?!”_

For the first time all day KT finally looked up, the stare that Sam received made his blood run cold, the amount of pain and self loathing reflecting out at him felt like actual physical pain in his chest.

“ _Go home boys_.”

“ _We’re not leaving you here to suffer alone_!”

“ _Why not? That’s what I deserve. Five girls are dead because of me. That one that got away, how many nightmares will she have? How many deaths do we not know about that are on me? I didn’t get the job done and people died. You had to come pull my lame ass out of the fire and how many people are dying now because you’re here wasting your time taking care of me instead of saving them? Go do your jobs. Go save people who are worth saving_.”

With that load of self-loathing out KT sat heavily down on the bed. Sam sat up and sat on a chair across from her, Dean walked half way across the room and stopped walking, unsure how to proceed. Sam expected to hear his brother yell but his voice read only hurt.

“ _Is that really what you think of yourself? How do you not know how awesome you are? You’re literally one of the most badass hunters I’ve ever met. You save lives every night. And you have a day job where you save animals lives every day. No one saves more people then you. No one_.”

KT let out a scoff,

“ _Used to_ ”

“ _Excuse me_?”

“ _Used to save people. The Were did a number on me I can’t hunt, or work anymore. I was only useful for those traits and now I can’t do that anymore_.”

Dean took a step forward,

“ _Ok, I’m going to stop you there. We don’t love you because of your hunting skills, we care about you because of you. I’ve seen the compassion you have with victims when we save them, I’ve seen the spunk you have putting other hunters in their place, and as far as not being able to hunt anymore, you’ve been hunting the past five months. Those hunts you’ve sent us all on, we were just actors following your scripts. That Wendigo hunt was the smoothest hunt we’ve ever been on_.”

Sam could see Dean had stirred something in KT but she hadn’t quiet believed it yet he leaned forward,

“ _Do you know why your clients love you so much_?”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _Yes, I save their animals, which I can’t do anymore so_ -“

“ _No, it’s your compassion. You care more then anyone else on this planet. You cover it up with snark and leather when on a hunt but when you’re in your scrubs it shines through, you care so much about everyone else. Why can’t you see that that’s how much we care about you_?”

KT looked at him for a moment, she shrugged, and let out a gasp. Newly relocated shoulders don’t’ really like to be shrugged. Dean sat down next to her.

“ _Alright doc, maybe we shouldn’t aggravate the healing injuries huh_?”

Dean handed her the pain pills that had started this whole heart to heart. KT hesitated for a moment, Dean raised an eyebrow,

“ _Don’t think you’re getting rid of us KT, you me and my brother over there are going to be spending a long time together. Besides, do you really think Sammy is going to let you go anywhere before you teach him that GPS hacking technique?”_

KT let out a small huff of laughter at that and threw back her head to take the pills in her hand. Her hand shot up to the stitches at her neck as they pulled unnaturally. As she felt them her eyebrows shot up so high they almost disappeared into her hairline.

“ _Sam? Is this a horizontal mattress suture pattern_?”

Sam grinned,

“ _Figured a high tension area needed a tension relieving suture pattern_ ”

KTs mouth gaped open in surprise, Sam continued,

“ _What? You think I wouldn’t research? But man what I wouldn’t give to have some extended time with a skilled doctor to teach me even more. My head started swimming when I was trying to read about square vs. surgeons knots…and what the hell is a granny knot_?”

KT chuckled, it wasn’t much but it was a start. Dean saw her grip start to loosen on the glass of water in her hand. He reached out and took it from her before it fell onto the motel carpet.

“ _Alright, back to bed with you that’s more then enough excitement_ ”

KT rolled her eyes but she didn’t fight him. Sam had to hold in his chuckle as he watched his gruff brother gently tuck KT into bed.

            For a while the brothers sat at the table, Dean was cleaning weapons while Sam was doing research but it was more of a front then anything else, they both kept getting distracted watching the hunter asleep on the bed near by. Dean got up and grabbed two beers from the mini fridge, he walked back to the table and handed one of the beers to his brother. Sitting back down he took a long swig of his beer, placing the bottle on the table he ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh,

“ _Sam, I’m an idiot_ ”

Sam almost snorted some beer out of his nose,

“ _What_?”

“ _She’s been feeling like this for how long? I could have helped her instead of letting her twist her thoughts into these horrible dark places_ ”

“ _Dude, the werewolf did a number on her, but we didn’t know about it, what could you have done_ ”

Dean shook his head,

“ _No, it’s not just the Were man, he didn’t just make these insecurities from thin air, he drew them out of places they already existed inside of her_ ”

Sam had no idea his brother could be so insightful,

“ _Dean, if you start going down your own shame spiral you’ll be no use to her, we didn’t catch this before but we can fix it now, but it’s going to take time, a lot of time, and I don’t think staying here is going to be what’s best for her_.”

Dean gave a long look to his brother, taking another sip from his beer,

“ _You got a plan_?”

Sam turned his laptop around, it was pulled up to a real-estate website,

“ _Thoughts on ranch style vs. colonial_?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Do Drop In Motel**

            It took another two weeks for the boys to get all their plans in order. Those two weeks were not easy on anyone. With KTs sprained left ankle coupled with the fact that she still appeared to not be able to put full weight on her right knee meant anytime she wanted to get up she needed help from one of the brothers. Every time one of them put their arm around her to help her get to the table or the kitchen or bathroom KT would tense but she wouldn’t say anything. The boys were just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It finally happened about a week and a half in to their stay. In the middle of the night Dean was woken up by a crash followed by a muffled,

“ _Damn it!”_

Dean got up off the cot he’d been sleeping on, the boys took turns each night, one on the bed closest to the door and the other in the cot between the beds. Dean found KT slumped on the floor, back against the mattress, Dean could see her shoulder had come out of place again, he knelt down in front of her,

“ _Son of a bitch, KT what happened_?”

“ _I just wanted to get a glass of water_ ”

Dean sighed,

“ _You should have gotten me up I would have gotten you a glass of water_ ”

KT practically growled her answer,

 _“I didn’t want you to get me a glass of water I wanted to get up and get one myself_.”

“ _KT, there’s nothing wrong with needing some help. Do you know how many times Sam has had to help me across a room or get me something to drink_?”

“ _Yeah that’s different y’all are brothers, you’re partners, you need to take care of each other_.”

Dean cocked his head to the side,

“ _You know we need to take care of you as well_ ”

“ _Yeah because I’m useless_ ”

Dean slapped his palm to his forehead,

“ _Come on KT that’s not true at all. We have to take care of you because we care about you, and you getting better is important to us_ ”

By this time they had made enough noise that Dean could hear Sam stirring on the bed behind him.

“ _Alright sweetheart lets get you off the floor get you a glass of water and then why don’t you let me and Sammy put your shoulder back into place, speaking of which we really need to get you a sling because that thing needs to be better stabilized_.”

KT rolled her eyes

“ _I don’t want a sling, lose even more control then I’ve already lost_ ”

Dean stood up, he reached down and gently lifted KT to her feet, he pretended to ignore how her entire body tensed as he touched her. Sam was on his feet making his way over. Dean turned KT so she was facing Sam, her back against Dean’s chest. He held her steady as Sam moved to put her arm back into place. KT was too tense there was a chance that when Sam went to shove her shoulder back in it wouldn’t go in if she stayed that tense. Dean leaned down conspiratorially and started talking in KTs ear,

“ _Sweetheart you’ve got to relax or this won’t work_ ”

KT huffed,

“ _Sure that sounds super easy. You try relaxing while being sandwiched between two slabs of Winchester and having your joint viciously shoved back into place. Also what’s with the terms of endearment, I thought the only thing you knew how to call me was cupcake…or she-devil_.”

Dean could tell the bravado was just a show but he smiled, playing along,

“ _No, cupcake is only for when you’re being a little shit. Sweetheart is for when you need a more gentle touch_.”

KT rolled her eyes but Dean’s talk was enough to distract her, as her muscles relaxed Sam grabbed her arm and thrust the joint back into place. KT let out a small yelp of surprise. Dean kept his grip on her as he steered her over to the bed,

“ _Alright princess time for bed, and tomorrow I’m going out and buying you a sling_ ”

KT settled into the mattress and murmured,

“ _Don’t waste your money_.”

Dean frowned,

“ _KT I’m not going through this again tonight, I’m getting you the thing you need to get better_.”

KT huffed into her pillow, Dean couldn’t see the eye roll but he sure felt it,

“ _No dufous, don’t waste your money on a new sling. I have one in my closet back in my motel room. Speaking of which when am I going back there?”_

Dean shook his head,

“ _You’re not going back there, I’ll pick up the sling tomorrow and grab the rest of your stuff_.”

“ _You know eventually you two are going to have to leave right_?”

“ _Yeah we know we’re leaving at the end of this week_ ”

KT tried to hide her surprise but she didn’t do a very good job,

“ _Oh! Oh ok, wouldn’t it be easier to take me back to my motel? I had a bigger bed there you know_?”

Dean rolled his eyes

“ _We’re leaving at the end of the week KT, we are, as in me, Sam and you_.”

KT raised her head off of her pillow

“ _Where are we going_?”

Dean grinned,

“ _It’s a surprise_.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Hunter House, Roxbury, NY**

            The Impala slowed to a halt in the driveway of a five bedroom, two and a half bath colonial style house with a large kitchen. Thanks to a little light credit card fraud curtsey of the youngest Winchester they had bought this house outright, they hadn’t told KT that quiet yet, they didn’t think she’d take it very well. Dean got out of the car and started bringing the bags in from the car. Sam got out of the passenger seat and opened the back door he leaned in and smiled down at the woman who had dosed off on their way here. He gave her good shoulder a slight shake, the bad one now firmly encased in this complicated sling that involved a lot of buckles and metal that confused Sam but at least it was holding KTs shoulder in place. KT startled awake and scrunched her face up in sleepy confusion. Sam tried not to laugh, but it was adorably comical to see the innocent sleepy face the girl who he had recently watched ruthlessly kill a werewolf was wearing. KT rubbed her eyes with her good hand,

“ _Where are we_?”

“ _Well, come see for yourself_ ”

Sam extended his hand and helped KT out of the car, the long drive had caused her muscles to cramp up and she had to lean heavily on Sam to stay up right. Sam looked up at the set of steps it took to get into the house and sighed. KT looked at him,

“ _So what’s the plan for getting up those_?”

Sam gave a rye grin,

“ _You’re not going to like the plan_ ”

KT opened her mouth to reply but Sam swooped in picking the girl up in his arms and carrying her towards the door. KT let out an indignant squeal,

“ _Sam! Put me down_!”

Sam shook his head,

“ _Nope this is the easiest way to get you into the house so this is how it is going to be_.”

Sam carried her across the threshold and set her down inside the house. KT slapped him on the shoulder but was soon distracted by the house. They had entered into a large living room, two large couches and a comfortable looking arm chair were arranged in the room around the center piece which was a large fire place with a flat screen television sitting above it. KT placed her arm around Sam’s waste,

“ _Alright give me the tour_.”

Sam grinned, he knew calling in some favors to have this place set up ahead of time was worth it. He walked KT over to her bedroom, there was a queen sized bed with a black and white comforter laying on top, two nightstands and a matching dresser made up most of the room, there was also a wooden desk sitting by the large window and a table sitting in the middle. Sam cleared his throat,

“ _We figured it would be best if you were on the first floor, you have the connecting master bath as well, my room is right across the hall, and Dean’s is two doors down. Upstairs there are two more rooms, I figured we could make one a home gym and the other the weapons arsenal_.”

He walked KT into the kitchen next, all the appliances were new and there was a large marble island taking up the center of the room. KT looked at Sam,

“ _You know I can’t cook right_?”

Sam snorted, but KT continued,

“ _No I’m serious, I don’t cook, like as in I have had to tear the smoke detector off the ceiling when cooking something as simple as pasta_ ”

Sam laughed at that, Dean took that moment to walk by,

“ _Don’t worry about it the kitchen’s for me not you_ ”

KTs eyes widened,

“ _You cook?!”_

Dean gave her a cocky grin,

“ _I’m more then just my pretty boy looks, come see the library, now that ones for you…and my geek brother_ ”

Sam helped her down the hall to the library, when they entered the room KT gasped. The room had a large table perfect for laying out multiple large books for research, the chairs all looked large and comfortable but the real heart of the room were the walls, the room was lined completely by bookshelves which were full of books. KT could tell that the whole right side of the room was dedicated to hunter research books, but the left side looked like it had much newer books. She started to walk that way, Sam hastened to keep his grip on her so she wouldn’t fall. As she got up close to the left side of the room KT once again gasped, she released her grip on Sam’s waste to run her hand down the spine of a book. Sam shifted to keep both hands on her hips so she would still be steady. KT spun around facing Sam,

“ _These are mine…these are my veterinary practice books_.”

Sam grinned sheepishly and ducked his head,

“ _Yeah the lore books are yours as well, well a lot of them are, I kind of combined our lore books_ ”

KT cocked her hip to the side and pursed her lips,

“ _You broke into my apartment and emptied it_?”

Sam tensed ready for a punch as he nodded. KT just looked confused,

“ _I don’t get it? I mean I get that we’d be here for a bit, but why did you decorate it and fill it with my stuff_?”

“ _Well we didn’t want to just squat in a house we wanted to live in it, also I filled it with all of our stuff_.”

“ _Yeah, but, that’s a lot of work to empty both our libraries, why do that? You’ll just have to put them all back together when I’m fixed enough to get around on my own_.”

Sam brushed a lock of KTs hair behind her ear where it had fallen out of the messy ponytail it was in, Sam still couldn’t get used to seeing KT without her trademark braid but given she only had one working arm at the moment and that the Winchester boys were both very much hair inept a messy ponytail was all that one of them could do before KT got to agitated with all of the attention.

“ _KT, we bought this house_ ”

“ _oh…OH! Ok… but that still means you’ll have to move my stuff out eventually_.”

Sam let out an exasperated sound,

“ _We bought this house for the three of us, see Dean and I, we think we make a really good team. We figured it was time to set up a home base and we thought what better place then to set up a home base five minutes from our partners veterinary clinic_?”

KT tensed and tried to take a step back out of Sam’s grasp,

“ _I don’t have a veterinary clinic anymore I can’t work anymore remember_?”

“ _You can’t work yet, it doesn’t mean you never can, the clinic is still there. Tina has been taking care of it_.”

KT shook her head,

“ _Doesn’t matter I can’t work, my arms not good enough. Plus you two work with only each other and I am meant to be alone_.”

Sam petted KTs hip, he meant it as soothing but all it served was to agitate her more,

“ _KT me and Dean used to work alone but we would like to give it a try with you. Come on this has been a long drive and I can see you’re getting tired. Why don’t we set you up in your room and you can take a nap_ ”

KT frowned but she didn’t argue. Sam helped her over to her room, settled her down on the comfortable mattress.

“ _Just get some sleep, I’ll wake you up when dinners ready_ ”

KT nodded but she couldn’t help getting one last point in,

“ _Sam, don’t feel bad when you boys realize this is just temporary, eventually you’ll figure it out and head back out hunting together, and I’ll have to get back to being alone._ ”

With that KT turned on her side and feigned sleep. Sam wanted to argue but he knew right now it wouldn’t do him any good. He just needed to stick to the plan, get KT healthy again and continue to show her how special she is. He closed her door quietly and crept back into the kitchen. Dean appeared to have already started dinner. Sam lifted the lid off a large pot,

“ _So what are we having_?”

Dean swatted his hand with a wooden spoon,

“ _Grilled chicken with broccoli over pasta in a garlic olive oil sauce, now stop touching things before I kick your gigantic ass_ ”

“ _Hey my ass isn’t gigantic_!”

Sam grabbed at Dean to put him into a headlock. After a while the brothers tired of rough housing. Sam sat down at the kitchen table and Dean handed him a beer. As he cracked open the beer looking at his brother domestically cooking dinner he leaned back,

“ _I think we made the right decision_.”

Dean nodded,

“ _Let’s just hope it doesn’t blow up in our faces_ ”

Sam clinked his beer against Deans in a sign of agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Several weeks later: The Hunter House**

Dean flipped the bacon in the pan he had on the stove.

“ _You need to go to the doctor_!”

KT sighed and hobbled past Dean to reach into the fridge, most of the wounds from her fight with the werewolf apprentice had healed up nicely but her shoulder and knee injuries from her first captivity were still causing her significant problems.

“ _How many times do we need to have this argument Dean_?”

“ _As many until you listen to me and go to the damn doctor_ ”

“ _Why does it matter_?”

Dean took the pan off the burner, he needed to concentrate to properly argue with the crazy person currently rummaging though the fridge and biting into an apple.

“ _What do you mean why does it matter? You’re not getting better, you need professional help, I know you didn’t heal right the first time but with professional help we can get you back to good as new_ ”

“ _I’m not going to the doctor Dean_ ”

Dean slammed the pan he was holding down onto the counter,

“ _Damn it KT why do you have to be so god damn stubborn! You need to get those checked out you’re barley walking and you can’t take your arm out of the sling without it dislocating. How are you going to get back to hunting if you don’t go to the doctor_?”

KT stood up straight and stormed over to Dean as fast as her bum knee would allow. She poked him in the chest.

“ _That’s what you’re all waiting around for isn’t it?! For me to miraculously get better and start hunting again and then everyone can stop feeling guilty and go back to their lives. News flash Dean if you are waiting around for that you’ll be waiting a long time, I absolve you of your misplaced guilt, you and Sam can move on and keep hunting I’ll go back to my apartment and set up an information command center_.”

Dean let go of the pan and put his hands on KTs shoulders,

“ _Sweetheart we aren’t leaving you, and we can wait how ever long it takes_.”

KT wouldn’t meet Dean’s eye,

“ _Dean, you can’t wait forever_ ”

“ _Watch me_ ”

“ _No Dean, I mean literally forever, I um, Iwenttothedoctorthefirsttime_ ”

Dean paused, blinked, and tilted his head,

“ _I’m sorry come again a little slower this time_ ”

“ _I went to the doctor after the first time I got hurt_.”

Dean gave KT a ‘go on’ look, KT continued,

“ _I um had surgery on my knee, and two weeks later had extensive surgery done on my shoulder. I was in a sling for six weeks and I did several weeks of PT. All of that and you saw how useful my arm was after all of that. I couldn’t lift my arm past my waste, and my knee wouldn’t support my weight. It’s a loss cause_ ”

Dean reached out and took KTs chin, tilting her head up so she was looking at him,

“ _KT, I want to tell you something and I want you to really listen ok_?”

KT held his gaze searching his eyes for a moment before she nodded,

“ _I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through these past few months. It’s unfathomable. The fact that you survived not once but twice, and managed to gank both those sons of bitches, I have never met a more bad ass hunter in my life, I mean when you broke your own thumb to get out of the shackles, good lord that was just-_ ”

KTs eyes widened in surprise, Dean gave a little head bob,

“ _Yeah we saw the tape, we saw how he tortured and abused you for days and how you still kicked his ass soundly. You are so badass, you are tougher then anyone I’ve ever met, and if you never hunt again, if you decide to open up a coffee shop, if you decide to start being a competitive mime, what ever you decide to do, Sam and I, we’ll be right here with you_.”

KT let out a soft gasp and grabbed Dean in a one armed hug. This was the first time KT had initiated any physical contact since they brought her here. Dean wrapped his arms around her and relished in the feeling of holding onto this strong woman. But he had to continue talking he had to get his point across, while still holding onto her he continued talking.

“ _I promise we’ll be here with you no matter what, but you need to go to the doctor, maybe you can’t get full function back and if that’s the case we’ll figure out what to do but you can’t live life in pain like this, we’ve got to see if there is any relief for you out there_.”

Dean released her from the hug and held her at arms length, for a long moment no one moved. Finally KT sighed and gave a small nod.

“ _Fine, I’ll see a doctor_.”

Dean let out a whoop and hugged KT again, with her head buried in Deans chest KT let out a small chuckle,

“ _Competitive mime? Really Winchester_?”

“ _Shut up, it’s a thing_ ”

“ _So are crocs, doesn’t mean anyone should wear them_ ”

            Two days later KT was sitting sullenly in the back seat of the Impala, they were on their way to the doctor. The day before she had gone and gotten an MRI on her shoulder and knee and today the doctor had called them in to go over the results. The three of them walked into the office, both Winchester’s flanking either side of the woman, as if they could physically protect her from whatever news was about to be given to her. The doctor entered the room, she was a nice looking middle aged woman, hair was pulled back in a professional bun, KT subconsciously ran a and through her hair, it was beginning to look like a birds nest but she could only do so much with one arm and she had long stopped allowing either Winchester to help her put it into a ponytail. The doctor opened up KTs file,

“ _So, I’ve reviewed your past medical notes and the new tests we ran yesterday. Your knee appears to be stable but I’m worried about the fact that you cannot bare much weight, I think it would really benefit from some intensive physical therapy and ultrasound therapy. I can arrange for one to start coming to the house this week_.”

KT looked confused,

“ _I don’t need anyone to come to the house, I can go to a PT office_ ”

The doctor frowned,

“ _Well, about that, while I don’t think your knee needs surgery right now, your shoulder on the other hand, well_.”

Dean reached out and grabbed KTs hand which had started shaking slightly,

“ _The anchors placed in your shoulder appear to have ripped off the bone they were attached to also there are several new tears in the posterior and anterior labrum. I think you would benefit from a revision surgery, followed by a month of immobilization followed by about six months of PT_ ”

KT was squeezing Dean’s hand so hard he thought the bones in his hand were grinding together.

“ _How much function do you think I can get back_?”

Sam’s heart ached with how small KTs voice sounded, the doctor looked down at her chart again,

“ _It’s really too soon to say. But I really think the surgery and the PT are your best bet at getting a good return to function_.”

KT sat for a moment, before nodding,

“ _Fine, but can you give me the name of a good physical therapist place, I um, don’t feel comfortable having someone in my house. I’ll just wait to start the knee PT until I’ve recovered enough from the shoulder surgery_.”

The doctor frowned,

“ _It really would be best to start PT sooner rather then later_.”

“ _I understand that but I’m just not comfortable having someone come to my house, I’ll just take the name of a place please_.”

The doctor nodded. By the time they left the doctors office they had a name of a PT place and surgery scheduled in four days.

            The day before the surgery Sam stood outside KTs room, he hesitated for a moment but eventually straightened his shoulders and knocked on her door. He could hear a faint,

“ _Come in_ ”

Sam entered KTs room, he found her curled in the armchair she had added to her bedroom a week ago reading a book. When she saw Sam standing at her door ringing his hands she put the book down.

“ _What’s up Sam_?”

“ _So uh, look KT, I have a uh, suggestion, and you can totally say no, it’s just an idea but you see I’ve noticed you’ve had some trouble with your um hair and with the surgery coming up I think it’s going to bother you and I know how much you like neat and orderly but nothings been neat or orderly lately so I started looking at youtube videos and I tried a couple times on myself and I think I can I mean Id like to try_ ”

KT pursed her lips at the befuddled man in front of her,

“ _Sam, what ever it is spit it out_.”

“ _I know how much it bothers you that your hair is all messed up, and I learned how to braid hair and Id like to if you’ll let me, Id like to braid your hair_.”

KT let out a surprised noise,

“ _Well of all the things I expected to hear you say that certainly wasn’t even on the rada_ r”

“ _So_?”

“ _I don’t know Sam, I don’t want to bother you and my hair’s kind of a mess I think it might be a little much for you_.”

“ _You aren’t bothering me, I want to do this. Please_.”

KT looked like she was going to argue a little more, Sam crossed the floor to stand in front of her.

“ _Please_.”

KT stood up,

“ _Well, alright, who knew Sam Winchester had a secret life as a hair dresser_.”

Sam laughed as he walked over to the vanity, KT sat down at the bench seat and handed Sam her brush. Their eyes met in the mirror as Sam started brushing her hair. As Sam brushed the tangles out of her hair the brunet locks began to fall gracefully down her back, the ends just brushing at the waste of her pants. At some point KT had closed her eyes, the brushing pushing her almost into a trance. Sam continued brushing her hair longer then strictly necessary in hopes that KTs face would keep that relaxed look. Eventually he set the brush down and began the intricate braid that he had been studying for the past few days. He faltered a couple times, his fingers not quite nimble and KTs hair was much longer and thicker then he expected. When he was done he had a pretty presentable braid if he did say so himself, it wasn’t as nice as KT could do herself but it was miles ahead of the ponytail mess she’d been wearing lately. Sam clapped his hands together and KT opened her eyes,

“ _All done_ ” Sam said happily

KT looked at her self in the mirror, head turning side to side, eyes shining in wonder. Sam thought he might see tears forming but she dropped her eyes in the mirror so he couldn’t be sure.

“ _Thanks Sam_ ”

“ _Not a problem_ ”

Sam started to walk toward the door just as he was about to exit he turned,

“ _It’s good to see you looking like you again_.”

KT turned and smiled at that, Sam continued,

“ _Also, you look gorgeous with your hair down, you should give it a try sometime, you know, let your hair down_.”

Sam didn’t give KT time to react he just turned and walked out the door.

            KT stayed in her room for about half an hour, when she emerged Dean was cooking pancakes and bacon and Sam was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. Dean looked up from the stove and did a double take,

“ _Looking good KT, but um don’t take this the wrong way but did you summon a hair braiding demon or something_?”

KT scoffed,

“ _Yeah Dean, they’re the little known cousin of the crossroad demon, my soul for perfectly braided hair_ ”

Dean barked a laugh,

“ _No but seriously how_?”

KT started to stammer, it was clear she didn’t want to sell Sam down the river to unadulterated brother mocking. Sam figured he could take this bullet for KT,

“ _Me Dean_ ”

Dean spun around,

“ _What_?”

“ _I braided her hair_ ”

Dean’s eyes lighted up with glee but he quickly tamped it down,

“ _That’s uh, that’s very nice of you Sam_ ”

Sam was confused until he saw the look in Dean’s eye, which clearly said “I will mock you for this later but not in front of her”. Sam nodded slightly. Dean continued,

“ _So KT now that your hair is back in order I really have to ask, how have you been doing a ponytail all this time, I mean with only one uh_.”

Dean waved his hand around in a vague gesture. KT laughed,

“ _It’s amazing the things you can learn to do with one arm form searching youtube. All I needed was a couch, a new hair tie and patience_.”

KT sat down at the table and made grabby hands at the coffee pot. Sam poured her a cup as Dean set a plate of pancakes down in front of her.

“ _Interesting…wait what else did you learn to do one handed_?”

KT laughed,

“ _Oh no Dean I’m not telling you, I need to have some mysteries, plus I’m pretty sure I can use some of these skills later to win a lot of bets against you_ ”

KT took a bite of pancakes and let out an obscene moan,

“ _These are amazing, ok seriously the kitchen was the best thing you could have ever invested in. Dean seriously you’re never allowed to leave this kitchen_.”

Dean made a pleased noise as he continued to putter around the kitchen. The rest of breakfast was uneventful. KT finished her pancakes and put her plate in the sink. She grabbed a second cup of coffee and headed towards the library. Sam wouldn’t look up he could feel Deans eyes beating down on him in big brother glee,

“ _So Samantha I always knew deep down inside you had a twelve year old girl begging to come out_.”

Sam groaned, it was going to be a long day, but it was worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Present day: The Hunter House**

            The surgery didn’t have any unforeseen complications, KT had to spend the night in the hospital, so the boys stayed until visiting hours were over and possibly a little bit longer, maybe until the nurses threatened to call security. The boys headed home, had a quiet dinner, and went to bed by eleven. At three in the morning Sam shot straight up in bed as he heard the home phone ringing. As he tried to swing his feet over the bed he got tangled in the sheets, he tried to kick is legs free but all that succeeded in doing was knocking him off balance. With an inelegant yelp Sam fell off the bed. The phone stopped ringing, Sam continued to try and free himself from his blanket prison. That’s the state Dean found him in as he rounded the corner, phone pressed to his ear. Dean chuckled at the sight of his brother on the floor he hit the speaker button as he sleepily answered the questions the lady was asking on the phone.

“ _Yes this is Dean Winchester_ ”

“ _Mr. Winchester I’m calling from the Roxbury Hospital I’m calling about a patient we have here you and a Samuel Winchester seem to be her in case of emergency._ ”

Dean was suddenly wide-awake,

“ _What happened to KT is everything ok?! We just left her a few hours ago she was in recovery_ ”

“ _Yes sir, I understand, I think it would be best if either your or the other Mr. Winchester could come down here right away, we had some complications with her medications and…well this is hard to explain it really would just be better if you came down here…quickly_.”

Sam had started pulling on cloths the second the woman on the phone said something was wrong at the hospital. Dean hung up the phone and hurried out of the room to pull himself together. Moments later the boys met up at the front door. The ride to the hospital was tense and silent. Dean had barley slowed the Impala down before Sam was out of the car and heading towards the door, Dean was hot on his heels. They stopped at the nurse’s desk and Sam addressed the woman there,

“ _Hi, we got a call about a patient here, they said we needed to get here right away_ ”

“ _Alright, sir just take a seat and I’ll see what I can find out for you_ ”

Dean hit his hand on the counter and Sam knew if he didn’t get this show on the road Dean might get them thrown out.

“ _Miss, I understand that you’re busy but the person on the phone sounded really urgent and said we needed to get down here as quickly as possible_.”

“ _I understand sir just take a seat and I’ll be right with you_ ”

Dean began to pace,

“ _Hey Dean don’t do anything rash yeah_ ”

Dean stopped pacing and looked at his brother,

“ _Sam you have one more minute to fix this before I take over_.”

Sam turned back to the woman manning the nurse’s station,

“ _Wait, Sam and Dean_?”

Sam nodded his body tensing,

“ _You both need to go to room 305_ ”

“ _Um…what_?”

“ _Look the nurse on her case will explain things, I recognized your names from when she was screaming earlier, but whatever’s going on you need to fix it so go, room 305_.”

The brothers took off at a brisk pace down the hall. Sam could tell that Dean was going to lose it soon. They arrived at room 305, there was a matronly looking woman in a pair of light blue scrubs standing outside the door, as she saw the two men approach the door she held up her hand to stop their forward motion.

“ _Mr. and Mr. Winchester_?”

The men nodded,

“ _Hello, I’m Robin Mills I called you earlier this evening I’m KTs nurse_.”

“ _What’s wrong is KT alright_?”

Robin pursed her mouth like she wasn’t exactly sure how to explain to the men what was going on.

“ _Well, it’s complicated, though I think you may understand more of the situation then we do. I’m just going to start from the beginning and hopefully this will make sense to you_.”

Sam nodded indicating she should continue,

“ _Around 1am the nerve block given to KT wore off, the pain from this particular surgery is unimaginably, at our 1:30am check I found her awake and in tremendous pain, I called the doctor to get a heavy dose of pain medication in her but KT refused the medication. Her heart rate continued to elevate and her breathing was becoming shallow. I continued to offer the medication but she continued to refuse, at 2:30am it appeared that her body couldn’t take the pain any longer and she began to show signs of shock. As her heart rate and blood pressure reached a level considered dangerous the doctor decided to give her the high dose of pain medication against the patience wishes. The medication we gave her can alter a person’s mental state unfortunately. It’s my belief she is trapped in a past trauma, since the medication was given she has curled into a ball and has been muttering several phrases over and over. Any attempt to speak to her or touch her sends her into a spiral. She broke an orderlies wrist when he went to readjust her IV. We can’t get her to snap out of this and the way she’s rocking and how shallow her breathing still is we’re worried she could seriously hurt herself if she isn’t brought out of this memory soon. Now I don’t know what happened but one phrase she has uttered over and over has been “ Sam and Dean wont come, Sam and Dean wont save me, no one will save me, he’s going to hurt me again.” Now, I’m breaking protocol having you here and I’m certainly breaking a whole host of rules with what I’m going to suggest next. None of us can get close to her, I’m hoping since she knows you you might be able to get through to her, or at the very least get close enough to give her this, it’s a heavy sedative it should knock her out for several hours and hopefully give her body time to heal a bit and reset._ ”

The nurse handed Sam a syringe. He looked over at his brother who shrugged helplessly. Sam pocketed the syringe and turned to the nurse,

“ _Thank you for calling us we’ll take care of this_.”

Robin nodded and opened the door. Sam and Dean walked in, they heard the faint click of the door closing behind them. As Sam’s eyes readjusted to the dim lighting in the room they began to make out a figure in the corner. KT appeared to be curled as tightly as her body would allow, her back against the corner of the room, her left arm was immobilized in a hefty looking sling but she seemed to be trying to curl both arms around herself, her head buried in her knees. The beeping of medical machines could be heard, Sam glanced at the screen her heart rate and breathing rate were both mildly elevated but still in a safe zone. He could hear a faint murmur as he took a step closer he could make out the words and they nearly broke his heart,

“ _He hurt me, he’s coming back soon, can’t get out, can’t get myself out. No ones coming to save me, he’s coming back, no one’s coming to save me, he’s coming back_.”

Dean took a step forward and knelt near the crumpled body on the floor,

“ _Sweetheart no, you’re not there any more, you’re safe no ones going to hurt you_ ”

KTs head shot up and she tried to press herself harder against the wall,

“ _No no don’t come near me, he’s coming back, it’s not safe. I can’t help you. He hurt me, and no ones coming to save me_.”

Dean backed off as it was clear his presence was making things worse. He looked over at his brother, Sam always was better in these situations.

“ _Sam what do we do_?”

KT became more agitated as she heard Dean speak again,

“ _Sam you can’t call Sam he wont come, Sam and Dean wont come, no ones coming_.”

“ _Shit_!”

Sam’s gears were turning in his head, he motioned Dean closer to him.

“ _So, she’s trapped in a memory of when she was captured, I think we have to rewrite the ending_ ”

“ _Um.., say what Vonnegut_?

“ _I think we have to play Sam and Dean_.”

“ _Sam did you hit your head? We ARE Sam and Dean_ ”

“ _Yeah but we’re the Sam and Dean who’ve been taking care of her, we need to be the Sam and Dean she remembered form hunting. I think we need to bust into where she’s being held captive and save her._ ”

“ _You can’t be serious_.”

“ _Look it’s not that hard, we’ll stage a rescue just follow my lead ok? And remember gruff asshole Dean not this weird teddy bear Dean you seem to become around her_.”

Dean glared at his brother,

“ _Well excuse me for caring about another human being, and you’re one to talk Mr. hairdresser_.”

Sam rolled his eyes and motioned Dean to follow him into the bathroom. Once they were both in the small space he closed the door.

“ _Sam what the hell_?”

Sam drew his gun,

“ _Well we can’t exactly kick down the door to the room now can we_?”

As Sam lifted his leg to kick out at the door Dean drew his own weapon. As the door burst open KT scrambled to stand, it appeared she was gearing up for a fight.

“ _Dean she’s over here! You killed the werewolf right_?”

Dean paused for a moment but finally got his head in the game,

“ _Yeah Sam I ganked the son of a bitch he’s dead_.”

Dean crossed the room and kneeled in front of KT who hadn’t lasted long on her feet before sliding back down the wall,

“ _Well hey there cupcake the cavalries here_.”

KTs eyes widened,

“ _Dean?_!”

“ _Come on KT it’s time we get you out of here_ ”

Sam leaned down and scooped KT up into his arms,

“ _Um, excuse me stretch but I can walk_ ”

Sam shook his head,

“ _You were held by a crazed werewolf who tortured you I think you earned the right to be carried_.”

KT was tense for a moment before she relaxed into Sam’s arms,

“ _You came and got me, I didn’t think anyone was going to come and get me, not worth it_.”

Sam walked over to the hospital bed and lowered KT onto the bed,

“ _Of course we came, no ones more worthy of saving then you. We’d always come for you KT_ ”

Sam started to stand up but KT fisted her hands in his shirt,

“ _Please don’t leave me, can’t be alone anymore_ ”

Dean dragged a chair behind Sam so he could sit down. Sam sat but kept a grip on KTs hand. Dean dragged another chair over and sat on her other side. He ran a hand through KTs hair.

“ _Hey sweetheart_ ”

KTs head turned to face Dean, nose scrunching up,

“ _Dean, am I dying? Shouldn’t you be saying something sarcastic like ‘hey cupcake if you wanted to see us so bad all you had to do was ask no reason to get yourself captured?_ ’”

“ _No I’m just worried about you is all_ ”

As KT was preoccupied with talking to Dean, Sam leaned over and injected the sedative into KTs IV. As the drugs started to take effect KTs eyelids started to droop,

“ _The Winchester’s came to save me_?”

Dean leaned over and kissed KTs forehead and Sam squeezed her hand, Dean whispered against her temple,

“ _Always_ ”

KT fell asleep and the Winchester brother’s settled in for the night. When Robin came in later she found her patient asleep on the bed, the taller man was holding her hand and appeared to have fallen asleep, his head resting on the mattress at her hip. The other man sat up awake, eyes peering off into space gripping her calf as if his hand was the only thing keeping her from falling off a cliff. Robin quietly took a note of the girls vitals and walked out of the room, as she closed the door and saw the girls face was relaxed for the first time since she got here she thought to herself, she didn’t know what that girl had been through but she might just make it through to the other side with those two protectors by her side. They weren’t hard on the eyes either, a woman may be married but she isn’t blind.

            The next morning KT was confused when she woke up, she couldn’t move either of her legs and she wasn’t really sure why. She went to rub her eyes but her left arm was in a sling and her right arm appeared to be stuck on something. KT was starting to get concerned. She blinked a couple times trying to get some moisture back into her contact lenses. When the world wasn’t quiet so blurry she looked towards the end of the bed. What she saw confused her even more, Sam appeared to be holding her hand and had fallen asleep with this head on her right leg, well that explained why that leg and arm wouldn’t move, Dean appeared to be asleep on her left side, he was seated sitting straight up his hand clamped on her left leg, and that explained why she couldn’t move that leg. She was growing a little concerned, why were they here visiting hours hadn’t stated yet and she was being released today anyway? Suddenly a memory came back to her, the night before she had thought she had had a nightmare about the werewolf Victor, but unlike the past times she had had that nightmare instead of just endless torture and waiting Sam and Dean had come and rescued her. She had also been in a hospital gown in this dream. KT suddenly realized that last nights dream had not actually been a dream, which meant all that stuff she’d said she actually said it to the Winchester’s. KT began to go into panic mode.

            Sam was woken when the pillow he was sleeping on went from kind of uncomfortable to rock hard. As his brain came back online he released he was laying on KTs leg which had gone stiff as if every muscle had locked up. When he looked up he saw KT looked as if she was about to pass out. Sam quickly sat up,

“ _Hey, hey hey, it’s ok you’re safe no ones going to hurt you the werewolf’s dead_ ”

KT looked at Sam,

“ _I know that_!”

Sam frowned,

“ _Well then what’s upsetting you, is it your shoulder do you need me to call the nurse get some pain meds_?”

“ _No I don’t want any more pain meds. You and Dean should go home_ ”

Sam was confused,

“ _KT we’re taking you home in like 2 hours_ ”

“ _Yeah but I can’t look either of you in the eye right now so maybe you could just go home and pretend last night never happened of something_?”

Sam rolled his eyes,

“ _Really? You’re embarrassed about what happened last night_?”

If looks could kill Sam was sure he’d have been dead in an instant.

“ _KT, seriously you have nothing to be embarrassed about, you think Dean and I haven’t had nightmares the other one had to pull us out of_?”

KT blinked for a moment, so Sam continued,

“ _Please don’t feel bad about this, if anyone should feel bad about this, its me, I mean you didn’t think anyone was coming to get you, and I get it, no one came for you the first time. You’ve got to know that if Dean and I knew you were missing we would have moved heaven and earth to find you, and we should have figured out you were gone_ ”

KT made a protesting noise,

“ _Dude I went in by myself I didn’t tell anyone where I was going, don’t start feeling guilty on my account. Look thank you for last night, it really means a lot that you guys would come to my rescue even if the danger was in my own head_.”

Sam smiled,

“ _I’ll pass the message on to my brother_ ”

“ _You wont have to he’s been awake for at least five minute_.”

KT kicked out her leg that Dean was still holding,

“ _That’s right Dean I know, now go, the two of you go and get some coffee I need a minute where I can die with embarrassment_ ”

Dean opened his eyes,

“ _What’s going on, that’s no way to wake a man KT I could have swallowed my tongue_ ”

KT rolled her eyes. The two men got up and left in search of coffee. When they returned KT was dressed and ready to go home. She sat on the edge of the bed kicking out her feet in boredom. Dean handed her the to go cup of coffee the boys had gotten her, as she took a sip she made a happy noise,

“ _Yes cupcake we got you the fancy latte you like so much, I swear you and Sam and your fancy coffee I just don’t understand it_ ”

“ _Yes Dean we should all take our coffee black like you so we can die when a hole erodes through our stomachs_.”

Robin entered the room with a wheel chair,

“ _Your chariot awaits_ ”

KT gingerly hoped off the bed and sat down in the wheelchair, Robin began to wheel her towards the exit the boys flanking either side. As they traveled down the hall KT noticed an orderly with a cast on his arm quickly round the corner at a run when he saw them coming. KT furrowed her brow,

“ _What was that about_?”

Dean leaned down and spoke into her ear,

“ _That thing that happened last night that we aren’t supposed to talk about? Yeah you broke his arm_.”

KT chocked on her coffee and Dean laughed. She looked up at him,

“ _I knew you were awake this morning, you liar_.”

Sam rolled his eyes and the two continued to bicker as they made their way out of the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Two weeks post surgery: The Hunter House**

            It had been about two weeks since the boys had brought KT home from the hospital. The first week KT couldn’t do much besides watch TV and take her medications around the clock. Dean learned quickly that the mixture of medications made KT a little manic unless they were accompanied by a chocolate milkshake, that seemed to keep the shakes and rapid eye movement at bay. At the beginning of the second week KT decided she needed to start venturing into the other rooms of the house, there was only so much daytime television one person could watch. She would take to her grave her new obsession with a show called Tiny House Nation, she really needed to get out of her room. KT headed to the library to do a little research, maybe she could find a hunt for the boys. She sat down at the table and opened her laptop but after only a few minutes it became clear she couldn’t sit at the table, she moved over to one of the comfortable armchairs.

Sam entered the library and found KT sitting in one of the armchairs she was pecking away one handed at her laptop. Sam got the book on sigils he had been reading through and settled on the couch. He tried to concentrate but every few minutes KT would shift loudly on the chair; occasionally a sigh accompanied the jerky movement. Sam only lasted about ten minutes before he couldn’t take it anymore.

“ _KT for gods sake what are you doing_?”

KT didn’t look up from her laptop,

“ _Looking for a hunt for you guys_ ”

Sam put his book down at that reply,

“ _What_?”

KT looked up,

“ _What what_?”

“ _KT, we aren’t going on a hunt_.”

“ _Why not_?”

“ _Because we aren’t leaving you on your own_?”

“ _Oh_ ”

“ _Yeah oh, KT we don’t plan on leaving you until your back on your two feet with two working arms and even after we plan on sticking to hunts close to home_.”

KT didn’t know what to say to that, but another shooting pain had her shifting in the chair again. Sam narrowed his eyes at her,

“ _Do you need some more meds_?”

KT shook her head,

“ _It’s not time yet, plus right now it’s less about shooting pains in my shoulder and more my back has cramped up, I just cant get comfortable. I want to stretch out but I need to keep my back against something solid_.”

Sam thought about KTs problem for a moment,

“ _What if you spread out on the couch? Like laid down on it but used the arm as a back rest like how I’m sitting_?”

KT shook her head,

“ _The couch arm hits me right at the bottom of my shoulder blade and it isn’t soft enough to really support me_.”

Sam looked around again and got an idea, KT wasn’t going to like it,

“ _Come over here a minute I want to try something_.”

KT looked confused,

“ _Just come over for a minute_ ”

KT got up, Sam moved his legs closer to the back of the couch so KT could sit down. She sat stiffly as close to the edge of the couch as she could get, Sam sat up a little straighter,

“ _Do you trust me_?”

“ _That question is not making me feel any better for what’s about to happen_ ”

Sam reached out and grabbed KT by the waste, he puled her back so she was resting between his legs her back propped up by his chest. Every muscle, tendon and cell in KTs body tensed,

“ _Sam, what are you doing_?”

“ _KT it’s simple, you need to stretch out on the couch but the arm is too hard for you to lay against, I’m just providing a more comfortable surface for you to lay against_ ”

KT stayed silent, her body remained tense as she attempted to control her breathing and not move a muscle. Sam signed, he reached over for her laptop, which was on the coffee table next to the couch, he handed it to her,

“ _You think you can show me how to do that cellphone GPS tracking thing you did to us_ ”

KT snorted as she opened up her laptop,

“ _I thought you found that to be an invasion of privacy_?”

“ _Oh I do, doesn’t mean I don’t think it’s useful, especially if I lose track of you again_.”

Sam couldn’t see it but he could sense KTs eye roll,

“ _Please like you could track me, these tricks might work on 98% of the population but come on Sam do you really think you can track me_?”

Sam leaned forward slightly peering over KTs shoulder, watching her fingers fly over the keys,

“ _You just wait_.”

It took a while but eventually KT relaxed against Sam, along the way she showed him how to track cellphones, credit card transactions and search for aliases, eventually her eyes began to droop, activity even small was still exhausting for her. As Sam saw her eyes began to droop he closed her laptop and placed it on the table. He reached out and grabbed the lore book he had been reading and settled down for an afternoon of research.

            Dean returned to the house several hours later he found the living room and kitchen empty, as he walked further into the house he called out,

“ _Sam? KT? Where is everyone?_ ”

As he rounded the door into the library Sam sat up slightly,

“ _Keep it down Dean_ ”

Dean was about to give a snarky reply when he noticed the tableau in front of him. His brother was stretched out on the couch, KT was asleep against his chest, the lines that had been present since the surgery indicating pain were finally smoothed out. Dean pursed his lips and gave a small nod. He walked into the kitchen to start dinner.

            Eventually Dean called out that dinner was ready, Sam knew he had to wake the sleeping woman but he regretted interrupting her first relaxed moment in a long time.

“ _KT, hey, it’s time for dinner_ ”

KT scrunched her face up, right fist coming up to sleepily rub at her face. Sam had to fight the chuckle that was bubbling up seeing the deadly woman look like an adorable five year old. He could tell the second her brain came fully online and her whole body tense. KT let out a small cry as the tensing caused a shooting pain in her shoulder. She began to scramble up. Sam could tell that was causing her even more pain.

“ _What are you so tense about_?”

“ _What_?”

“ _Why is it that you can never relax, you act like if you let your guard down for a moment a hellhound is going to be on your heels_?!”

KT gave Sam an incredulous look,

“ _There’s always a hellhound on my heels, there’s always hellhounds on YOUR heels, I mean come on Sam_ ”

“ _KT you are probably in the safest place on the planet right now_ ”

“ _What are you talking about_?”

Sam sat up,

“ _You are in a house that three of the words most badass hunters call home, every doorway and window’s frame is a mixture of iron and salt nothing’s getting in, the walls are covered in every protection and warding sigil we know. You are never more then three steps from a hidden weapon, and Dean has been in the process of turning the basement into a full-fledged crazy person panic room with a vault door. If there is anyplace you’re safe, it’s here_.”

KTs eyes widened. She assumed the hunters had made arrangements to make the house safe she just didn’t know to what extent.

“ _Wow I, wow_.”

Sam got up from the couch and headed towards the door,

“ _Look all I’m saying is you can relax every once in a while, let your hair down, read a book not about hunting you’re safe here_.”

Sam headed towards the kitchen but poked his head back into the room to make one more comment,

“ _And if you tell Dean I called him a badass hunter I will be forced to short your bed sheets and super glue you to something_.”

Sam grinned as he heard KTs bark of surprised laughter.

            The next day if Sam saw KTs eyes well up slightly when three recliner’s arrived, one for her room, one for the living room and one for the library he never said a word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**One month post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT was on the third step on the staircase in the house. Ever since two days before when KT had returned from her month out post op exam she had been determined to get up to the second floor. It was still too soon to tell how the shoulder surgery had went but the doctor advised that her shoulder had healed enough that she should start doing PT on her knee. Two days later and KT still had not called the physical therapist to make an appointment. She just didn’t feel comfortable having anyone else see the damage done to her. It was bad enough she had to see the doctor, also if she was being honest with herself she didn’t want to hear another physical therapist tell her she wasn’t going to regain full function. When she had returned home she had become obsessed with getting up the stairs. She knew the boys had set up their weapon arsenal and a home gym upstairs. She had heard Dean moving things around upstairs a lot lately. But he always managed to change the subject when KT would bring it up. Twenty minutes ago KT had decided come hell or high water she was getting up those stairs. In that time she had gotten three steps up she was pouring sweet and had since admitted defeat. The problem was no one had told her going downstairs would be even harder then going up, she was now stranded. She heard keys turning the lock of the front door and knew her time was up. She braced herself and hopped one stair down. She closed her eyes for a moment as her body swayed, she heard footsteps and knew she had to hurry and she hopped again. Again she took a moment to steady herself and she made the last jump. She let out a sigh of relief as her feet were safely back on solid ground.

            Dean walked down the hallway and saw KT standing at the foot of the stairs, she appeared to be breathing heavily and had a sheen of sweet on her face. He decided to play this casual.

“ _Hey KT, did you call that PT yet_?”

“ _Oh uh, no not yet, actually I was just looking for the phone number, I cant remember where I left it_.”

KT made a show of looking around the hallway, Dean crossed his arms and tried to hide his grin,

“ _So you thought you left it upstairs? Did we get an elevator I don’t know about_?”

KT glared at him,

“ _Don’t mock me, and speaking of things not being known about, what have you been doing upstairs all the time lately_?”

Now Dean let his grin spread across his face, he walked past KT and walked up the first few stairs,

“ _Why don’t you come up and find out_?”

Dean turned around to see KT glaring daggers at him, he shrugged, walked back down the stairs and scooped KT up in his arms. She let out a yelp and swatted him with her good arm,

“ _Dean what the hell_?!”

Dean just kept grinning as he walked up the stairs with a very angry hunter in his arms. He set KT down, once her feet were on the ground she took the opportunity to hit him in the gut, Dean let out a whoosh of air and doubled over slightly but he couldn’t help but chuckle. KT gave him a shove,

“ _What the hell Dean?! You can’t just pick someone up like that what is wrong with you?_!”

Dean stood up straight and turned KT so she was facing the home gym. She tilted her head to the side, something was off, it was set up with gym equipment but it wasn’t the traditional treadmill, bike, weights combo. Those were present but there was also resistance bands hanging from a bar, balance boards, a balance bar, and an exam table. There also appeared to be some medical equipment, from KTs time in hospitals she recognized a tens unit and an ultrasound machine. KT turned to face Dean who was looking down a sheepish expression on his face,

“ _So, I know you’re uncomfortable going to a physical therapist so I thought Id bring the office to you_.”

KT frowned,

“ _Dean that’s sweet of you but you know we can’t have people coming into this house, it’s not safe_.”

“ _We don’t have to_ ”

Now KT was even more confused,

“ _Are you planning on having a physical therapist communicate over Skype or something_?”

KT looked around for a computer. Dean took a breath,

“ _No I uh, I learned how to give you what you need_.”

“ _What_?”

“ _I went to that physical therapist that the doctor recommended back during your first consultation, I’ve been seeing her for the past month she’s been showing me how to do exercises and stretches with you, I’ll report back to her and she’ll help me come up with treatment plans for both your knee and shoulder_.”

KT stared at Dean. After a long moment the silence was making Dean uncomfortable,

“ _I mean I just thought, you might feel more comfortable if it was me and I even got the ultrasound and other equipment to help you and yeah, but we can think of something else if you don’t like this idea_.”

It was Dean’s nervous babbling that finally broke KT out of her own thoughts. As his panic continued to grow KT lurched forward, she embraced the man in an awkward hug. That was more then enough to surprise the ranting right out of Dean. He wrapped his arms around KT.

“ _Thank you Dean_ ”

KT pulled back and looked around,

“ _So uh, where do we start_?”

            An hour later Dean carried a quieter KT back down the stairs. He set her down and she looked up at him,

“ _So I’m guessing that humiliating act is going to happen a lot more often now_?”

“ _Dude I would love someone to carry me up the stairs, do you know how many times I’ve acted more drunk then I really was so my giant of a brother would help me up a flight of stairs. Enjoy the ride and it’s only until you can do it on your own, which, we’ll get you there_.”

KT gave Dean a small smile, he reached down to put a stray lock of hair behind her ear,

“ _Hey_!”

Both hunters froze.

“ _What do you mean you tricked me into carrying your not so drunk ass around_?”

As KT and Dean turned to see an irritated Sam standing in the hallway they burst out laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Two months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Four weeks later KT had finally been released from the immobilization sling, while she had been excited for the freedom of having her arm free she was incredibly frustrated in what she found. The doctor had kept her in the sling for an extra few weeks, eight weeks total in the sling unable to move her arm. She advised she start passive physical therapy, meaning she wanted someone to stretch KTs arm for her. The first session hadn’t gone well, her arm had been unable to move past her waste, and her hand was unable to grip anything. She remained stoic during the session but as soon as Dean had returned her to the ground floor she had snuck off to place a panicked phone call to the doctor. That phone call had not gone well.

            Sam walked into the kitchen where Dean was making lunch for everyone. He smiled for a second,

“ _Man bro if I knew all you needed was a kitchen to get your Mr. Mom on I’d have found us a place years ago_.”

Dean rolled his eyes,

“ _Shut up Sam you know you love it_.”

Sam laughed, Dean set three plates of hamburgers down on the table,

“ _You seen KT lately_?”

Sam shook his head. Dean shouted in the direction of KTs room,

“ _Yo KT shake a leg, it’s lunch time_ ”

There was no answer. Sam tensed,

“ _Maybe she fell asleep_?”

Dean shrugged. Suddenly they heard a loud crashing noise from the back of the house, both hunters took off running. Dean pulled out his handgun as Sam opened the door to KTs room. Dean stepped in and assessed the situation, there was broken glass on the floor but there was no sign of any evil creature, no sulfur smell, no cold spots. They heard rustling from the bathroom, Dean turned his gun and pointed it at the door. KT limped out of the bathroom a towel in her hand, she paused when she saw both hunters standing in the doorway, she raised her eyebrow at the gun pointed in her direction.

“ _Gees Dean I didn’t know you cared that much about the glassware, no need to shoot me I’ll replace it_.”

As it became clear there was no threat Dean put his gun down. Dean was about to let lose on KT for not answering and for scaring them. KT let out a soft cry. She had gone to kneel down to clean up the broken glass but being unable to kneel on her right knee mixed with her inability to brace herself with her left arm she tilted dangerously. Sam crossed the room and steadied her before she could topple over. He took the towel from her hands and sat her in her chair. He knelt down and started cleaning up the broken glass. As he got close to the spilled drink he caught a whiff of it, he looked up at KT,

“ _Really? Bourbon? It’s barley noon_.”

KT shrugged,

“ _So?_ ”

Sam stood up to throw out the broken glass, when he came back he sat down across from KT, Dean remained frozen in the doorway. Sam picked up the bourbon bottle, judging by the missing contents KT had had a fair amount of it.

“ _Alright I’m going to put this bottle away and then we’re all going to go inside so you can get some food in you_.”

KT leaned forward and tried to cross her arms, the right one made it but the left barley twitched.

“ _Who made you the boss? I’m not done with that yet_ ”

Sam’s eyes widened,

“ _I think you’ve had enough for one afternoon_ ”

KT sighed,

“ _Whatever_ ”

Sam stood up,

“ _Come on KT let’s go into the kitchen_ ”

KT stood up but her unreliable knee mixed with drunken imbalance sent her tipping sideways, Sam reached out and caught her. KT threw his hands off of her,

“ _Don’t touch me_!”

Sam held his hands up but as KT started to list to the side again he reached out,

“ _I said don’t touch me_!” KT yelled,

Sam ran a hand angrily though his hair,

“ _You’re going to fall and hurt yourself if I don’t help you_ ”

Sam and KT stood facing each other, they appeared to be having a stand off. Neither one was going to back down. They were both startled out of their stances by the sound of plates hitting the table. Dean sat down in front of one of the plates,

“ _Both of you sit, I slaved over these burgers and you both will shut up and eat them_.”

Neither KT nor Sam made a move to sit. Dean banged his fist against the table,

“ _I said sit_!”

With one last glare KT sat down and grabbed her burger with her good hand. Sam seeing KT had made it safely to a chair sat down himself and started eating. The lunch occurred in a tense silence. When everyone had finished their meals Dean cleared the plates. He returned shortly after with three rocks glasses and the bottle of bourbon. Sam raised an eyebrow as Dean poured about three fingers of the alcohol into each glass. Dean handed a glass to each of the other hunters at the table he raised his glass,

“ _Well, if we’re going to have this out we might as well do this right_ ”

Sam and KT picked up their glasses, they clinked their glasses together and both Dean and KT threw back the contents of their glass. Sam sipped his more slowly he figured someone should be a little more present. Several glasses later it appeared the fight had drained out of KT she set her glass on the table and was running her finger over the lip of the glass. Dean leaned forward,

“ _So, do you care to share with the rest of the class why you decided to have a drinking party in the middle of the afternoon_?”

KT wouldn’t look up,

“ _Not really no_ ”

Dean sighed,

“ _KT_ ”

KT mumbled into the table,

“ _I talked to the doctor today_ ”

Both men held their breath preparing for what news could have gotten the hunter so down.

“ _So, you know that of the 160 degrees I’m currently allowed to move my arm I can move it 4 degrees_.”

Dean nodded, Sam furrowed his brow he hadn’t known that particular detail.

“ _So my arm barley moves at all and I’ve discovered that_ ,”

KT paused, took another large sip of her drink,

“ _I’ve discovered that my left hand really doesn’t work, that’s how I broke the glass, I tried to hold it in my left hand, it just slipped out like it wasn’t even there_.”

KT sighed and indicated to Dean to refill her glass, once it was full again she took a sip and continued.

“ _So I called the doctor and pretty much demanded she tell me more about what’s going on with my shoulder. She told me she doesn’t know if I’ll get full function back, she doesn’t even know if I’ll get better from where I am right now. She had to keep it immobilized for so long so that the scar tissue could secure it as much as possible, because she feared if she didn’t let it really cement my shoulder would just pop out of place the second the sling was off. But in doing so the amount of scar tissue that formed was unprecedented. We’re moving in uncharted waters now. There’s a question of how much if any of the scar tissue will release to give me any movement also if I’ll ever be strong enough to life my own arm let alone anything else. As to why my hand doesn’t work, she’s not so sure, I could have permanent nerve damage or they could just temporarily be damaged but no one knows. She also let me know since she was in such a sharing mood that when she looked at my knee at the last visit my quads aren’t responding as they should to PT and my knee is likely stuck the way it is now for good. You guys need to start thinking about moving on, I’m sure you have lives you need to get back to._ ”

Sam looked down at his drink, Dean reached out and grabbed KTs left hand, he turned her palm over and started tracing patterns on her palm.

“ _I’m sorry this ever happened to you_ ”

KT tried to pull her hand away but the arm was too weak to break out of Dean’s grasp. Dean continued,

“ _It’s still early yet. We’re in uncharted territory and yeah we don’t know what’s going to happen but it’s still so early. The physical therapist that has been training me said it will be six months before be can make any sort of assessment on the progress of your shoulder. After the last session I went to her to get some more scar tissue breaking techniques, I figured we’d try them tomorrow…well maybe the day after, I think we might be a bit hung over tomorrow_ ”

KT looked up at him her eyes shining dangerously, Dean continued to stroke her palm,

“ _As for your hand not working right we can start therapy on that as well, and I don’t think the nerves are beyond repair_.”

“ _Why_?”

Dean smiled,

“ _Close your eyes and focus on my hand on yours_ ”

KT closed her eyes, her brow was scrunched in concentration. Dean began stroking her palm with broader strokes, as he made it up to her wrist KT gasped and her eyes popped open.

“ _I felt that, like little tingles all the way up my arm. How_?”

Dean smiled again,

“ _When you eliminate all other distractions and concentrate on the hand and the feelings you can sense those nerves that have been stressed and strained. We’ll keep working on it and it will get better_.”

KT gave a small smile, Dean gave her hand a squeeze, Sam slammed his empty glass against the table, both Dean and KT jumped in surprise. Sam was seething with anger,

“ _This is bullshit_.”

Dean held up his hands,

“ _Sam calm down_.”

“ _No Dean, this is bullshit_.”

Sam turned to KT,

“ _How many times do we need to tell you we’re in this for the long haul? Do you think we didn’t entertain the possibility that you may never even get back to half strength? That you may always need help? Of course we did! We bought this house for the three of us to stay in. This is our home, this is our home base come what ever may. If you get back to full strength and want to reopen your practice and start hunting again then we have a home base, if you can do research and milk runs then we can do that, if you can’t hunt or work then we can make hunter packets for the other hunters, Dean can work in a restaurant I can go work in a library or something we’ve made all these plans but you just keep trying to push us away when things get tough! KT always the loan wolf, always got to do things on her own, doing things on your own is what got you in this situation in the first place_.”

KT gasped as if she’d been slapped and Dean put a hand on his brother’s shoulder,

“ _Sam that’s enough_!”

When Sam spoke again the anger was gone, his voice was low and sad,

“ _When are you going to realize we’re always here for you? We care about you. Your whole life has been spent making other peoples lives better but you wont do that for yourself_.”

Sam got up and walked towards the door, he stopped and picked up the bottle of painkillers sitting on the bedside table,

“ _Can’t mix these with all that alcohol in your system_ ”

Dean took one look at KTs face and could see she was devastated.

“ _KT, he didn’t mean it_ ”

“ _Yes he did, go talk to him Dean, make sure he’s ok_.”

“ _I don’t want to leave you here_ ”

“ _Go Dean I uh I need a moment…please_ ”

Dean took a long look at KT before getting up and walking out the door. KT sat at the table, head hung down once again staring at her glass. She was lost in thought for a long time.

            Dean walked into the kitchen where Sam was sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee.

“ _Sam seriously_?”

“ _Don’t start Dean_.”

“ _No Sam, that was messed up. She’s going through a lot right now, she’s been though a lot. Do you remember how messed up you were after you got taken by the Bender’s_?”

Sam nodded,

“ _And how about when you broke your wrist and you couldn’t hold a shot gun properly_?”

Sam again nodded,

“ _Dude, those problems are minuscule compared to what KT is going through. She could never function properly again. Forget hunting, that girl is a doctor, she may never be able to work again. Her life as she knows it could be over and even if it isn’t she has a long row to hoe to get back to where she was. Don’t you think that’s terrifying_?”

“ _I get that Dean but it doesn’t have to be that scary she has us! No matter what we’re going to stick with her. Why does she keep trying to push us away?! Every time I come back to the house and I can’t find her right away I worry that she’s left us. If she wants to disappear she can disappear to where we’ll never find her and I love having her here with us. She fits in perfectly with us and what if one day she just up and leaves us_?”

Dean smiled sadly, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to his brother,

“ _That’s why you’re mad at her, you’re worried she’s going to leave us_?”

Sam nodded sullenly,

“ _Sam, buddy, if she wants to leave us you’ll have to let her go_.”

“ _Yeah but she doesn’t want to leave us Dean, she’s acting like the sick wolf in the pack that goes off into the woods to die alone to not endanger the rest of the pack_.”

“ _Yeah pretty much, but all we can do is make it clear to her that we want her here and support her while she figures out her life_.”

Sam looked at his brother, his eyes sad, he hesitated for a moment and then nodded. It broke Dean’s heart a little, Sam looked like he was five years old.

“ _And dude, you got to realize this is going to take her a while, remember when we went to her apartment? Do you remember a single picture of anyone in that house_?”

Sam shook his head

“ _She is very used to doing things on her own, she’s not used to people in her space all the time. Just keep your cool man_.”

Sam nodded,

“ _Thanks Dean, do you think I should go apologize to her_?”

Dean thought about it for a moment,

“ _No, her feelings are hurt, she may not be ready to hear your apology, wait for her to come out of hiding and then you can apologize_.”

Sam poured himself another cup of coffee, Dean looked at his watch,

“ _Well will you look at that it’s already time for me to start making dinner. I swear my work is never done, chef, older brother, therapist, I really can do it all Sammy_.”

Sam rolled his eyes and got up and headed towards the library. He returned minutes later with a book in his hands and sat back down at the table. Not really feeling like being on his own he settled down to read his book while his brother made dinner.

            Dean was pulling a lasagna out of the oven when KT emerged from her bedroom. The way she was holding her body the brother’s could tell she was hurting badly, they could also tell she was incredibly embarrassed, she wouldn’t look at either of them. She hesitated for a minute and Dean could tell she was on the edge, she couldn’t decide whether to sit down at the table or go hide back in her room. Dean put the pan down on the table,

“ _Corner, edge or center_?”

KT froze,

“ _What?_ ”

“ _What piece do you want, corner, edge or center_?”

“ _Oh, um, center please, I hate the crispy parts_ ”

Dean began cutting the lasagna,

“ _That’s good, that will prevent fist fights in the future_.”

“ _What_?”

Dean grinned,

“ _See Sam and I both like corners and usually eat at least two pieces, so usually it works out unless either one of us is extra hungry. If we had another corner person in the house I could foresee dinners quickly escalating into fist fights_.”

KT looked thoughtful for a moment,

“ _Good to know, we should probably discuss the proper temperature of a pot roast soon to make sure we’re all really going to work out_ ”

Sam looked over at KT, he understood she was trying to apologize. He cleared his throat,

“ _Hey KT, I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. We know that you’re going through a lot and we’re here for you no matter what_ ”

“ _Thanks Sam, you to Dean. I appreciate everything you guys have been doing for me. I’ll try not to flip out on you again_.”

Their dinner was much less tense then their lunch was. When the dishes were all cleared and the left overs put away the boys went into the living room to watch a baseball game that was on. KT went into the library, there was a book on charms she wanted to read. The game ended around midnight, Sam and Dean headed to their respective bedrooms, as Sam passed the library he noticed the light was still on, when he walked in he saw KT sitting in the recliner, book in her hands.

“ _KT, you heading to bed soon_?”

KT looked like she didn’t really realize Sam was there for a second,

“ _What? Oh yeah soon_.”

“ _KT_?”

Sam could tell KT was about to tell him it was nothing and try and send him to bed,

“ _Come on KT let me in_ ”

KT hesitated for a second,

“ _I haven’t really been sleeping well since the surgery_ ”

Sam tried to hide his surprise, it had been over two month since her surgery how had he not noticed?

“ _The same problem I have when sitting I have in bed, I can’t lay flat and I can’t be on my side, I need to be propped against something but I can’t seem to get that right, so I usually spend a couple days awake and uncomfortable and then when I can barley keep my eyes open I double up on the painkillers and pass out for a night_.”

Sam wasn’t even surprised that sounded exactly like something KT would do, he held out his hand,

“ _Come on, come with me_ ”

“ _Sam where are we going_ ”

“ _Bed_ ”

“ _I just told you I can’t sleep. Especially not tonight, you took my pain killers remember_?”

Sam had forgotten he had pocketed those earlier.

“ _You can have one, the alcohol should have worn off enough you can have one and not die_ ”

“ _That will take the edge off, but I’m still not going to be able to sleep_ ”

“ _humor me_ ”

KT took Sam’s hand and followed him out of the room. He walked her to her bedroom. He took the pain medication out of his pocket and handed her one pill, placing the bottle back on the nightstand. She took the pill and swallowed it. Sam looked at her for a moment,

“ _Get ready for bed_ ”

KT looked like she wanted to argue but just nodded, as she entered the bathroom Sam went into his room to get ready. When KT emerged from the bathroom she found Sam in a comfortable t-shirt and sleep pants, he was sitting up in her bed his legs crossed reading a book.

“ _Um…Sam….dude_ ”

KT just stood rooted to the spot staring at the man. Sam tried to appear as casual as possible,

“ _Look KT I think the solution that worked when you couldn’t sit properly would work so you could get some sleep_.”

“ _I don’t know Sam that seems extreme_ ”

Sam rolled his eyes,

“ _Just come here give it a try, if you are still uncomfortable after one hour I’ll leave you to your own devices_.”

KT stared at Sam for a long moment. Finally she walked stiffly over and sat on the edge of the bed. She sat there, her back ridged, Sam smiled and shook his head, she was trying at least. He reached forward grabbed her by the hips and dragged her to lie against him. Every inch of her body was tense. Sam could tell she was trying to regulate her breathing but it was still coming out fast and shallow. Sam made the effort to make long calming breaths making sure his chest moved against her back in hopes she would start to mimic his breathing. After a few minutes her breathing began to even out but he could tell she was still tense. He reached up and turned off the lights. In the dark he reached up and started stroking her hair, he heard her make a startled noise but remained where she was. As his fingers ran through her hair he felt her body begin to relax, at the forty-five minute mark he could tell she had fallen asleep, he smiled to himself, he continued to stroke her hair and soon, he to, fell asleep.

            When KT woke up she was confused, normally when she woke up in the morning she was greeted by shooting pain in her shoulder and back. She was stiff but it wasn’t nearly as painful as normal. KT began to catalogue her surroundings, she was in her bed but instead of the usually laying flat and being stuck in agonizing pain or being propped against the headboard stiffly she seems to be in a reclining position and was against some sort of solid pillow. But the pillow confused her, if wasn’t overly soft but instead a solid presence behind her, she pushed her elbow back into the pillow and the pillow grunted. That startled KT, she swung her head around to find Sam smiling down at her and rubbing his abdomen where she had made contact.

“ _So do you always bodily harm the people you cuddle with_?”

“ _Shut up I thought you were a weird pillow_ ”

“ _So you’re only violent to inanimate objects_?”

“ _Oh my god I don’t have any caffeine in me yet I am not prepared for this conversation_ ”

Sam chuckled as KT levered herself out of the bed and headed into the bathroom. Sam got up and headed back to his own room to get ready for the day. He continued to chuckle as he walked down the hallway, he had made a huge gamble last night but it had worked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Four months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT was four months post surgery, things had been relatively status quo, she still had trouble sitting anywhere for long periods of time and Sam had gotten good at noticing when KT was getting close to passing out from exhaustion and would arrange another sleep over. KT and Dean worked on her knee and shoulder PT every day. KT could get up and down the stairs by herself by now, but it took a very long time and required her to be feeling really well. Dean still carried her up and down the stairs for their PT sessions since it would be counter productive to tire her out before they even started.

            KT met Dean at the stairs, Dean grinned at her small scowl, everyday was the same no matter how many times they did this.

“ _Morning cupcake your chariot awaits_.”

“ _Come on Dean let’s just get this over with”_

 _“Man you just can’t wait to swoon into my arms can you_?”

KT rolled her eyes and in a voice dripping sarcasm she replied

“ _Yes that’s right pretty boy your manly prowess has left me in a weakened state please catch me before I fall_ ”

Dean scooped her up and started up the stairs,

“ _All you had to do was ask_ ”

Dean laughed as KT slapped his shoulder.

            They had a fairly good PT session, KT was now able to lift a 5lb weight with her knee and had about 65% range of motion in the joint. Dean always took special care watching her on the balance board because that was the danger zone for KT, the knee would give out at random moments and if Dean wasn’t prepared to steady her KT could go toppling over. When she had successfully completed all her knee exercises it was time to start with her shoulder. She could now get her arm at about a 90-degree angle, it was still a far cry from being even close to normal but baby steps were still steps. Sometimes Dean hated watching as KT stretched her arm as far as she could, the muscles were so knitted together her shoulder moved as one unit instead of a working joint. She was working so hard but her body refused to cooperate with her. She got through her stretches and her weight lifting exercises, it was time to have Dean stretch out her arm in an attempt to break up the scar tissue. Both of them hated this part, Dean hated hurting KT and KT hated looking weak. They had started up a routine during this part of the session to keep them both sane, during each session Dean would ask KT about a new topic and she would school him on the inner workings of all of it. Depending on his mood Dean usually yo-yoed between asking about obscure lore on certain monster species like name the different types of d’jin, how their visions differ and how to kill them, apparently there are 4 types, and asking medical questions, those usually came out with him sounding a little stupid but he didn’t mind. Sometimes he liked to just name random symptoms and see if his crazy combos added up to an actual disease. It freaked him out how they usually did. Sometimes he asked her how to do certain procedures. Dean bent KTs elbow at 90-degrees and started to bend her arm back towards her head,

“ _So I always wondered, they say you have to spay a dog, can you walk me through the procedure_?”

KT closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath this stretch was one of the worst ones.

“ _So I use a ventral midline approach with the umbilicus as my landmark. My incision is 6-8 inches long and I dissect through the subcue until I identify the linea alba_ ”

Dean shifted her arm and now was trying to force it above her head, she closed her eyes and stopped talking, Dean prompted her

“ _The what now? The linea abba, is it a pop band_?”

“ _Don’t joke the word is Latin you know exactly what it means”_

_“Yeah and I don’t get why a dog would have a white line in their stomach.”_

_“You do to Dean_ ”

Dean looked thoughtful as he straightened KTs arm and held it straight out and pushed it upwards, KT continued her explanation,

“ _It’s collagen, you know connective tissue it runs from xiphoid to pubis, it separates the abdominal muscles, it’s that depression that causes your six pack_ ”

“ _So I have a massive linea alba then_ ” Dean sounded smug

KT rolled her eyes and as Dean cranked her arm in a particularly painful position she started back in on her explanation. They continued on in this fashion for about twenty minutes, KT explained to Dean about pedicles and where to find them, the different knots and why you would use them and how to close everything back up again. The whole time this was occurring Dean was pushing KTs shoulder to the limits it would allow, each session would hopefully tear through bits of the scar tissue holding her shoulder captive. They finished the stretching and Dean set up the tens unit on her shoulder, placing an icepack on top of it.

When they were finished they returned to the hallway to head back downstairs. Dean made a move to pick up KT but she held up her hand.

“ _Dean, do you know I haven’t yet been inside the weapons room_?”

Dean grinned and walked towards the door of the weapons room, he had set up this room himself and with the combination of Sam’s, his and KTs weapons they had quite an impressive arsenal. Dean opened the door,

“ _So what are you waiting for_?”

KT walked in and let out a breathy,

“ _Wow_ ”

Dean leaned against the doorframe his whole being seemed smug,

“ _I know_ ”

There was a wall of blades, they were arranged vertically by size and style and horizontally by metal type. The guns lining the opposite wall were similarly organized. There were crossbows and axes, a mace in the corner. Everywhere KT looked there was a new weapon.

“ _This is amazing Dean_ ”

She walked over to the gun wall and picked up her favorite handgun, she held it in her right hand for a moment, she moved to transfer it into her left hand, Dean held his breath. She successfully held it and Dean began to breath again. As she moved her hand to cock the firing mechanism back her hand shook and was unable to complete the motion. KT dropped her arm below view in an attempt to pretend that moment had never happened. She turned to Dean,

“ _So I think we need some more weapons what do you think_?”

Dean laughed,

“ _It is looking a little sparse_ ”

KT placed the gun back on the wall and with one last look walked out the door. Dean carried her back down the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Four months and one week post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Sam was looking for his ipod, he thought maybe he had left it in the living room. When he walked in something seemed different, he looked around and then realized what it was, the couch, armchair and recliner all seemed to have been decorated with different styled throw pillows. They ranged from a simple checkered pattern to one with a complicated looking six-point star. Sam walked into the kitchen holding a pillow with what looked like a protection sigil on it in a lovely floral print.

“ _Hey Dean, did we get attacked by a redecoration fairy_?”

Dean didn’t look up from stirring the pot of chili he was making,

“ _The pillows? It’s KT I saw her walk into her room with a stack of fabric the other day_.”

“ _Do you know why she’s gone pillow happy?”_

 _“No clue but since it can’t hurt her, or us, I figured it wasn’t worth stressing over_ ”

Sam shrugged and went to return the pillow to the living room. Dean called out from the kitchen,

“ _Oh and Sam, the pillows are in our rooms as well_ ”

Sam was curious to see what creations had ended up in his room, we walked in to find a navy blue pillow with a red plaid protection sigil on it a, a black pillow which appeared to have the demon exorcism embroidered on it in white, and a third pillow which was this intricate geometric pattern that spiraled out from the center it appeared to be an exploding star made up of interwoven oranges and yellows. Sam thought it was beautiful it reminded him both of the stars in the night sky, which he loved, and a field of sunflowers. Now he was curious to see what pillows were in his brother’s room, the same exorcism pillow and protection sigil pillows were present though his sigil was done in a green plaid. He had a third pillow, which was red and had a detailed impala on the front of it. Now he really just wanted to see KT because this was interesting. He walked into her room and saw several different pillows, she also had an exorcism pillow and a protection sigil pillow, hers was done in maroon plaid, the third pillow on her bed was black and white polka dotted and shaped like a dog. She was hunched over the table, a pillow with what looked like the constellation Cassiopeia embroidered on the front.

“ _So…new hobby_?”

KT looked up from her stitching and smiled sheepishly,

“ _Yeah, figured I’ve read every book in this house twice it was time to do something else_.”

“ _Sam, KT, chili time_!” Dean yelled from the kitchen,

KT got up and followed Sam out of the room, the three of them sat down and had a nice dinner. Though KT did have to empty the entire fridge of cheddar cheese and sour cream to counteract the all the spice in the chili,

“ _How do you guys eat this_?”

Dean laughed and shoveled a large spoonful into his mouth, Sam shrugged,

“ _With Dad’s cooking we both probably burnt off most of our taste buds by the age of ten_.”

They continued eating, KT occasionally getting up to refill her drink glass, the boys chuckling as she grumbled about hunters and their lack of taste. When the plates were cleared KT headed back to her room, Sam called out,

“ _Hey KT_ ”

KT paused and turned around,

“ _Yeah_?”

“ _Can I have a dog pillow_?”

Dean stood up,

“ _Hey, if he gets a dog pillow I want a dog pillow_!”

Sam looked incredulous,

“ _You don’t even like dogs!”_

_“You don’t know me”_

_“Really Dean? Pretty sure we’ve lived in each others pockets for, oh I don’t know, for ever_ ”

KT chuckled as she walked out of the room and the boys continued to bicker. The next day when the boys walked into their respective rooms they found a pillow shaped like a Scottie dog the fabric matching the plaid of their sigil pillows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Five months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Sam found Dean sitting in the living room watching television, he had found a way to arrange the dozens of pillows that now decorated the room to make himself comfortable. It had been a few weeks since KT started sewing pillows and now every surface in pretty much every room had it’s own pillow. Sam was impressed by the shear amount of imagination it took to make all these different pillows. As Dean raised his hand to change the channel on the remote something caught Sam’s eye. Dean had an intricate bracelet on his wrist it seemed to be leather and had beads woven together over and through it in a series of protection, anti possession, strength and cunning charms. It was mostly done in greens and blues and was gorgeous. Sam for the life of him couldn’t figure out where his brother could have gotten the bracelet.

“ _Hey Dean, what’s with the jewelry?”_

_“KT gave it to me.”_

_“Where did KT get something as intricate as this, she doesn’t leave the house?”_

_“Oh uh, she made it”_

_“She made it? That must have taken days and days of work_ ”

Dean held his wrist up examining the bracelet closer,

“ _Yeah and it took thought man, the thread in the bracelet is silver, and the clasp is iron_ ”

Sam frowned, Dean sat up and looked at his brother,

“ _Look Sam, you and I both know there’s a reason she’s going all craft crazy on us, but here’s the thing, it’s not hurting her, she’s been doing great since she started all this so why look a gift horse in the mouth? Just let her do her thing and if in the future a problem arises then we’ll deal, but for now let her do her thing. I mean look at this thing, this thing is awesome man_ ”

Sam had to agree that thing was really awesome. He sat down next to his brother to watch some TV.

            A little while later both boys were dozing on the couch, the movie on the screen long forgotten. Sam was startled out of his almost slumber when something landed in his lap,

“ _Huh wha_?”

Sam looked around confused for a second, as he began to focus he noticed KTs grinning face.

“ _Really boys, you must be getting old if you need an after dinner nap_ ”

Sam noticed KT was sporting her own bracelet the symbols and details were the same as Dean’s but hers was done in red and purple beading. KT looked over at the screen and snorted,

“ _Seriously Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? How can you be watching that, it’s a crime against Indy movies_.”

Dean had by now woken up fully as well,

“ _Shut up something else was on when we started watching. You know, one of the first movies I snuck into was Last Crusade, though I’m partial to Temple of Doom_ ”

KT scoffed,

“ _Oh come on man Raiders is the best, melting Nazi’s man”_

 _“You can’t tell me you didn’t love Short Round_?”

KT scoffed again, Dean turned to Sam,

“ _Ok bro we need a tie breaker here_ ”

Sam shook his head,

“ _Not a chance_ ”

KT pursed her lips,

“ _Clearly there’s only one thing to do, movie marathon time you need to remember the awesome that is Raiders_.”

Dean nodded,

“ _I’ll get the popcorn”_

 _“I’ll get the Indy DVD box set that I know you think is well hidden in your room_ ”

Dean look scandalized,

“ _When were you in my room!? Stay out of there_!”

KT cackled as she walked quickly down the hallway, her limp much less noticeable then even the week before. Sam decided to take the opportunity to go to his room and change into more comfortable cloths since KT and Dean had decided they were all going to be up half the night watching movies. As he stood up he heard something fall to the ground. He bent down and picked up his own bracelet in intricate detail, his was done in red and blue, he smiled as he attached it to his wrist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Six months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KTs progress in physical therapy had stalled at the five and a half month mark. She could get her arm above her head but she had no turning motions. Every session she would practically break herself in two trying to make her arm move but as her muscles spasmed it was clear she could not just will her body to listen to her. Dean had learned early on that she would never tell him it was too much when he stretched her arm. He had to watch her facial reactions and wait for the muscles to start trembling in his hand to let him know when he needed to stop pushing. KT had finished her exercises and the weights and Dean could already tell this was going to be a bad session. She had gone inside herself throughout the whole first half and he could feel anger and frustration bleeding off of her. She lay down on the table and Dean took her arm into his hands he bent her elbow at 90 degrees and began to bend her arm backwards towards the table.

“ _I remember once when we were on a hunt you got a call from a client and they were asking about their horse and you said it was a roarer…can horses roar like lions_?”

“ _No, well kind of_ ”

Dean raised his eyebrow

“ _Really? Can I have a lion horse?”_

 _“It’s an upper airway disease it happens when the laryngeal nerve is damaged so part of the larynx is paralyzed so when they breath in it makes a whistle or roar noise_ ”

“ _That’s not as fun, so if they roar then you know it’s this disease”_

 _“You suspect it but there are several tests you can do_.”

KT stopped talking, slammed her eyes closed and took a deep breath, Dean could feel her muscles trembling and he went to release the stretch but KTs eyes snapped open,

“ _NO! Keep stretching it_ ”

Dean held the stretch for another moment but her whole arm was practically vibrating in his hand he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere else pushing on it like he was so he once again began to release the stretch.

“ _Dean don’t stop stretching it I’m fine_!”

Dean sighed and moved to do the next stretch hoping if he just kept stretching her arm she wouldn’t argue with him any more. He held her arm out from her side and started pushing it up,

“ _So what sort of tests do you do to find out?”_

_“Well you need to do endoscopy at rest and at exercise to visualize the range of motion of the arytenoid cartilage.”_

_“Wait how do you look at their throat while they exercise?”_

_“Put them on a high speed treadmill_ ”

Dean blinked,

“ _They have treadmills for horses?”_

 _“Oh yes_ ”

Dean continued to move her arm up but he hit a point where it just physically wouldn’t move, he held the stretch and then went to put her arm down,

“ _Dean I wasn’t even feeling pain come on keep stretching”_

_“KT it wouldn’t move any more then it was”_

_“Well, try harder_ ”

Dean sighed and started pushing her arm it would not physically move any farther but he kept pushing, KTs whole body slid up against the wall and he gave one more push for good measure, but that part of her shoulder was beyond locked in place.

“ _I’m sorry KT it wont move any farther_ ”

He was met with silence, he moved on to the next twisting stretch, he knew from experience was the most painful stretch for KT,

“ _So you’ve stuck a horse on a treadmill, then what?”_

_“Well you can try the slap test or the grunt test”_

_“Slap and grunt test? Now I know you’re pulling my leg_ ”

KT chuckled,

“ _They’re real tests I swear_.”

Right at that moment Dean hit the end of the stretch KT let out a small gasp. He held the stretch for 10 seconds and began to release it,

“ _Dean come on man you’re killing me push it more_ ”

Dean took her arm and pushed it backwards, he held it steady,

“ _Farther Dean it can go farther_ ”

KTs whole body was vibrating and her voice was catching but the look in her eye didn’t allow for any discussion, Dean tried to push it farther but her muscles were locked down and the pushing was doing nothing but causing her pain. Finally he admitted defeat and released her arm. KT was panting as she rolled her head on the pillow,

“ _No Dean man you’ve got to push it more, I can take it, it’s stuck, you have to fix it.”_

 _“KT, I’m pushing it as far as it will physically go, pushing more will do nothing except cause you pain_ ”

KT tried to sit up but her muscles were trembling too much to allow her to push herself up. Dean put a hand behind her back to help her sit up.

“ _Dean you have to make it move more, I haven’t progressed in weeks now, this can’t be where I get stuck, I can’t pour a glass of milk, do you know what that means? No pouring lighter fluid on a body, no spell work, no surgeries on an animal or a person. I can’t be stuck here_ ”

Dean’s heart broke at the look on KTs face, he thought for a moment back to the treatments he’d been forming.

“ _Look KT I get it, but it physically won’t stretch anymore, I can’t force it because that does nothing_ ”

KT hung her head, Dean put his hand under her chin and pushed up so her eyes met his,

“ _But, I have an idea of a new treatment to add.”_

_“What is it?”_

_“I’ve been reading that you can break up scar tissue with concentrated deep massage_.”

KT looked uncomfortable, he could see the inner turmoil in her head warring between hope of getting better and having to lay half naked on a table and have someone touch her. Eventually the bravado returned to her vibe.

“ _Alright well let’s get this show on the road then_ ”

            Dean pulled the treatment table away from the wall, he added a sheet on top of the table. KT stood near by trying not to look nervous but not being very successful. Dean turned to her when he felt his set up was sufficient.

“ _I’m going to step outside, take your shoes and your shirt off and lay face down on the table, I’ll be back when you’re ready_.”

KT quickly got undressed and hopped on the table, it took her a few moments to properly cover herself with the sheet. She lay with her hands at her side, she tried to control her breathing. Dean came back inside, KT could see he had several things in his hands. She heard him set something down and heard him fiddling with something, just as she was going to ask him what he was doing the room filled with the sounds of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’. He must have picked up his ipod dock and ipod from his room, KT mused to herself. Dean walked over to KTs side and cleared his throat,

“ _I’m going to start in a second, I uh grabbed some lavender oils mixed with arnica is that ok if I use it on you? The lavender is supposed to be relaxing and arnica reduces inflammation_.”

KT was surprised by this question,

“ _Yeah, yeah that’s fine”_

_“Good, uh, great. I figured Id start by just trying to work out all the knots in your back and once your muscles are relaxed I’ll concentrate on braking up the scar tissue.”_

_“Sure, sounds good_ ”

KT could hear Dean rubbing his hands together, he placed his hands on her shoulders and started trying to massage the knots out. Dean could tell that this process was more painful then relaxing for KT. Dean had known from working with KT in physical therapy and from just knowing her in general that she was tense, but the tightness in her muscles was superhuman, he didn’t know how she even moved at all. He continued to massage her shoulders and neck but her muscles weren’t releasing at all. Dean could tell it was a mixture of her having the tensest, tightest, most insane knots of any human in the land and also that KT was uncomfortable. He was fighting both her body and her mind. Dean started to hum to the ipod, which was now playing Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’. He remembered being on a hunt once with KT and she had hummed while trying to put together a complicated spell, when he asked her about it she told him that music calmed her. It seemed to help a bit as Dean felt her muscles finally start to relax just a little bit. When he thought KT could no longer tolerate the relaxing part of the massage he began to try and break up the scar tissue. He started by tracing where the muscles were knit together, it took him a long time to get his bearings there was so much scar tissue it was very hard to flesh out the anatomy of her shoulder. Eventually he made an educated guess and started to dig his thumbs into where the muscles were being held together by scar tissue. He could feel KT hold her breath, he knew that this process was incredibly painful so he would pause every few minutes to give her body a break from the pain. When he had finished all he could do in one session on the back of her shoulder he pulled the sheet back up to cover her back.

“ _Ok, I’ll hold the sheet on one side and you turn over.”_

 _“What? We’re done right, I don’t need to turn over_ ”

Dean chuckled at KTs minor distress,

“ _KT you have anchors in both the back and font of your shoulder I need to get at the front as well, so, turn over_.”

Dean held the sheet and KT begrudgingly turned over, Dean held in a chuckle as he saw KT had kept her eyes scrunched tightly shut. Dean tried to relax her muscles as much as he could before he started to try and break up the scar tissue. The front of her shoulder appeared to be even more painful then the back, as he worked on the scar tissue her breathing became hitched and she began to shift around. Dean could tell it was sheer will and her hatred of nudity that kept her from rolling off the table. A little while later Dean had done as much as he could.

“ _Alright, torture session done, I’ll step outside, you get dressed again_.”

KT sat up, her whole body ached but she thought she might feel a little looser. She got redressed but remained sitting on the table, she could tell her body was like jelly and wouldn’t take kindly to trying to stand. Dean knocked twice before reentering, he had a heating pad in his hands.

“ _I figured we’d try to relax the muscles some more with a little heat_ ”

KT nodded, Dean crossed over to KT and placed the heating pad on her shoulder.

“ _So I think we should incorporate this into the PT sessions.”_

_“Yeah sounds like a plan”_

_“KT, you ever thought about taking up yoga or meditation or something relaxing_ ”

KT looked confused,

“ _No, why?”_

 _“Because you’re wound tighter then a two dollar watch_ ”

KTs burst of surprised laughter seemed to startle them both. Soon they were both almost doubled over laughing the heating pad had long since fallen off KTs shoulder but neither of them seemed to notice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Six and a half months post op- Roxbury Hospital, Roxbury, NY**

            KT sat in the exam room of the doctors office, the boys had wanted to come in with her but with a glare that could put the fear of god into a Wendigo KT had kept their butts firmly in their seats. KT plucked at the butcher paper that covered the table, she chuckled quietly thinking about how her patients would have responded to the weird paper if it were on her exam table, a vision of Otis a particularly mischievous Labrador wearing it like a mummy made her grin. When she heard the knock at the door followed by the turning of the knob the grin fell from her face, she squared her shoulders, as much as the left one would allow, and prepared for whatever news the doctor was going to give her. The doctor entered, KTs file was in her hand, she seemed to be pursing her lips while reading something in the file. She looked up and gave KT a smile,

“ _Good morning, how’s everything going today?”_

_“Fine”_

_“How’s the physical therapy going_?”

“ _Ok I think, the uh the therapist has added massage to break up the scar tissue_ ”

The doctor nodded,

“ _That’s good. So I’ve looked over your newest scans, the anchors are holding and there aren’t any new tears, I’m going to examine you now and then we can discuss the progress ok_?”

“ _Sure_ ”

The doctor moved KTs arm through a series of movements and stretches, she didn’t make any comments as she went. She took out a wooden stick with a slight point and ran it over KTs hand asking different questions about how she felt the touch, checking the nerves in her hand. KT closed her eyes and concentrating on the touch, it wasn’t nearly as earth shattering as the time Dean tested her nerves in her room those few months before. The doctor finished up her exam and scribbled some notes in the file. She pulled up a chair and sat down facing KT,

“ _So how do you think you’ve been progressing_?”

“ _I have good days and bad days, some days my arm barley works and I drop everything, or I have to hold onto the wall to keep my knee from giving out_.”

“ _And the good days_?”

KT shrugged,

“ _Real exciting times, on good days I can walk from my bedroom to the living room without falling over and maybe move a pillow with my left arm. One day I even got a glass from the second shelf_ ”

The doctor sighed at the sarcasm and anger in the young woman’s voice.

“ _Look I think you’re so bogged down in this you cant see the forest through the tree_ s”

“ _Excuse me_?”

The doctor took KTs arm in her hands and held it out at her waste,

“ _When we started you could lift your arm to here_.”

The doctor moved KTs arm, she lifted it until the arm was level with KTs ear.

“ _Now it goes to here, that’s a lot of progress_ ”

KT raised her right arm, it went straight up and well past where her left arm was.

“ _But this arm gets to here, I’m nowhere near that.”_

 _“But you’re miles closer to that then you were six months ago_ ”

The doctor lowered KTs left arm and KT put down her right arm. She clasped her hands together and looked down. The doctor sat back down,

“ _I get it, you’re not at full function, judging by the muscling in your body, to you, you aren’t even at 50% yet, but you keep making progress. I can’t tell you you’ll get back to 100%. With the amount of damage done to your body, I don’t think you’ll ever be at 100%, but I think we can get you to a functional place, it might take a year it might take two, hell it might take more then that, I think you’re always going to be in pain, I think those joints are always going to give you trouble, and I think eventually you’re going to need a cane, but I think if you keep working hard and you keep having people to support you, that you will get to a point where you can go back to work and be a fully functioning member of society. But you cannot do this alone you get that right? You have to continue physical therapy and you have to continue having people help you_ ”

“ _How can you ask anyone to stick with you when you have an open end date? Hey can you continue supporting me and taking care of me and continue to put your lives on hold with no guarantee and no time line_?”

The doctor sighed,

“ _Alright, I think a large part of your problem is in your own head. You have got to stop thinking you’re a burden to the people in your life. I’ve seen the two gentleman that accompany you to every appointment, they would move the moon and the stars for you if they thought it would help, I don’t think you even have to ask them to keep helping you, just keep doing the work and start feeling good about the small progress points you reach. Live your life and eventually you’ll be living the life you want_.”

KT paused soaking in all the doctor had to say, when she finally looked up she smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes,

“ _So are you my orthopedist or my therapist_?”

“ _Sometimes I’m both. Just keep doing the physical therapy, and take a moment out every now and then to enjoy life. Reach for that glass on the middle shelf and then put something fun in it_.”

The doctor stood up, closed KTs file and walked out the door. KT took a moment to compose herself. She thought about the men sitting out in the waiting room and all they’d been doing for her, how they never asked for anything in return, it was as if they actually enjoyed being in her company. They needed a day off, they all needed a day off. A quick google search on her phone and she had her plan.

            As KT walked out the door both men stood up, she could tell they were nervous.

“ _Come on boys we’re going out to lunch_.”

Of all the things Sam expected her to say that was not it,

“ _What? Wait how’d the recheck go_?”

“ _There’s more then enough time to discuss my progress later. Right now I’m taking you boys out for burgers, then we’re going to a classic car rally one town over and I found a drive in Movie Theater playing one of the old Godzilla movies, all on my dime_.”

The boys didn’t know what prompted this, but if KT wanted to have a day of fun they weren’t going to argue, except on one point. Sam’s brow creased,

 _“KT we can pay for our share, I know you’ve been out of work for a long time now_ ”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _Please, like you invented the credit card scam, I just used my phone and in ten minutes I had an extra $5000 you have so much to learn young grasshopper_ ”

KT walked out the door, all the boys could do was follow her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Six months and three weeks post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Sam was settled on the couch in the living room reading a book. Things had been pretty quiet since KTs visit to the doctor. She had explained the doctor didn’t really have a timetable for her recovery but she was still improving. Sam put that in the win column. He was brought out of his musings by someone clearing their throat, he looked up to see KT standing next to the couch, laptop in her hands.

“ _So uh I’ve been thinking, I think it’s time I start looking for hunts_.”

Sam put his book down,

“ _You are not ready to be hunting”_

_“Not for me I-“_

_“Dean and I are not going hunting yet either_.”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _Oh my god Sam let me finish my sentence_.”

Sam closed his mouth and made a “continue” gesture.

“ _I know I’m not up for hunting yet, and you and Dean haven’t been keeping up with your training either. But with one part time and two full time hunters currently out of the game I’m guessing evil has a little bit of an upper hand right now. I don’t want to go as full ‘a beautiful mind’ like I did before, but one hunter packet a week couldn’t hurt, give our friends out in the field a little help_.”

Sam nodded his head thoughtfully,

“ _How about one a month?”_

_“Two a month”_

_“Deal_ ”

KT held out her hand and Sam shook it. He chuckled at her antics, though secretly he was pleased, she came and discussed this issue with him and even took some of his input, this was great. KT continued to stand next to the couch the nervous look from when she started talking was back,

“ _KT, what’s bothering you?”_

_“Can I uh, can I lean on you?”_

_“You know I’m always here to support you in what ever you need.”_

_“No I mean like actually lean on you_.”

Sam looked confused and KT sighed now that she started she just jumped right in with an explanation,

“ _Researching still takes a lot out of me, I can’t sit up for long and the more uncomfortable I am the harder it is to concentrate and it’s just the only time I’m ever actually comfortable is when I lean against your chest, so since this is kind of important I was just wondering if I could lean against you_?”

Sam’s eyes widened in surprise, he quickly tried to school his expression. He leaned back down on the couch like he had been before their conversation started.

“ _Sounds good to me, maybe I can help with the research to?”_

 _“Yeah sure that would be great_ ”

KT sat on the edge of the couch, Sam didn’t even hesitate before grabbing her hips and pulling her back against him. KT opened her laptop and started searching for paranormal activity. About an hour later they had a solid lead on what appeared to be a vengeful spirit in Idaho. Dean walked in the room to find KT leaning against Sam both of them staring at the laptop screen. Sam had bent his legs up at the knees, both legs bracketing KTs body as she sat up against his chest, her legs stretched across the length of the couch.

“ _So…what’s going on here_?”

Sam looked up at his brother,

“ _KT has decided to start making hunter packets again for the other hunters still out there, we agreed two packets a month seemed fair, she’s got a lead on a vengeful spirit currently_.”

Sam’s eyes pleaded with his brother, years of silent communication made it clear to Dean what Sam was trying to say to him, don’t make a big deal of this, don’t undo this progress. Dean gave a small nod. Dean grabbed the remote and turned the television on. He leaned over the couch, picking KTs legs up for a moment then quickly sitting down and putting the girls legs down in his lap.

“ _Well while you two nerds continue your ghost hunt I’m going to partake in a Chuck Norris movie marathon_.”

That’s how the three hunters spent their evening, sitting on the couch researching leads and occasionally stopping to watch Chuck Norris round house kick bad guys in the face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**7 Months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Dean walked into the kitchen to start baking the banana bread he had been planning all week. He had left four bananas on the counter the day before so they could get to the slight over ripe consistency he needed to make the bread. He got out a mixing bowl and started collecting the ingredients he needed. As he went over to the counter he noticed two of the bananas were missing. He was confused, and annoyed, he had specifically told Sam not to touch the bananas and he knew KT hated bananas unless they were in bread form. He slammed the bowl on the counter,

“ _SAM_!”

Sam came skidding into the kitchen his socked feet sliding on the floor, eyes scanning the room for danger.

“ _Dean what is it?”_

 _“What do you see here Sam_?”

Sam furrowed his brow scanning the counter that Dean had indicated,

“ _Our kitchen counter, a bowl, some sugar and bananas.”_

_“How many Sam?”_

_“How many what?”_

_“Bananas Sam Bananas”_

_“Two”_

_“Exactly”_

_“Ok I think you’ve gone bananas_ ”

“ _There were four bananas here yesterday Sam, four bananas I specifically told you not to touch, now there are only two, care to fill me in_?”

Dean crossed his arms and glared at his brother. Sam was confused,

“ _Dude, I didn’t eat your bananas, I have no idea where they are and I think you’re going a bit insane right now_.”

“ _Bull shit Sam, you love bananas, you just couldn’t help yourself could you, bet you had yourself a nice midnight peanut butter and banana sandwich_.”

Sam was about to continue to protest when a throat cleared behind him. KT walked to the counter placed the two bananas down and started to walk back out the door.

“ _Sorry Dean, didn’t realize you had these saved for any reason I was just going to uh, eat them, I was hungry, but here you go. Ok I’m going to go call Rich, see how the hunt went_.”

KT practically ran out of the room. Sam crossed his arms smugly,

“ _Ah hah! Here you were accusing me of a crime I didn’t commit, you owe me an apology_.”

Dean was holding one of the bananas KT has put on the counter, studying it,

“ _This doesn’t make any sense.”_

 _“What you being wrong? Dean you’re wrong a lot this can’t be news to you_.”

“ _No dumbass why did she have the bananas, you’ve heard her banana rant she hates the things_.”

Sam paused, once his self-riotous victory excitement faded he realized this was kind of weird. Dean continued to turn the banana over,

“ _Look at this, the banana was opened but only in one spot and there are these little holes all up and down it_.”

Sam picked up the other banana,

“ _This one has that to_.”

Sam pulled back the opened part of the banana and he found a small piece of suture material inside the knot buried in the corner of the seam of the banana.

“ _Oh this all makes so much more sense now_ ”

Dean looked at his brother,

“ _Care to share with the class?”_

_“Dean think about it, first the pillows with the tiny hand sewn patterns, then the intricate bead work on bracelets and those charm satchels she made, now the bananas. She’s been working on her dexterity, from sewing, to fine motor work and now to suture practice.”_

_“What did my banana ever do to her_?”

Sam rolled his eyes,

“ _Banana peal is probably the closest she could get to skin to practice her suturing skills_.”

Dean thought for a moment, shrugged and turned to start making his banana bread.

“ _Well that sure beats my other theory.”_

_“What was that Dean?”_

_“She had somehow used the ouiji board to tap into the spirit of Martha Stewart”_

_“Martha Stewart isn’t dead?”_

_“Oh come on Sam that woman was totally replaced with a pod person when she was sent to prison._ ”

Sam made a face that indicated that sometimes he wasn’t sure how his brother and he were related.

            At dinner that night all three hunters pretended the moment in the kitchen never happened. KT blushed a little when Dean served the banana bread for dessert. She thought it tasted a little light on the banana, maybe they weren’t as ripe as they were supposed to be. When they decided to call it a night KT walked back to her room, as she crossed the room to change her cloths she noticed one banana sitting on the table. She picked it up and smiled, it seemed someone had added several different types of “wounds” to the banana. She should have known they would have figured it out eventually.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Seven and a half months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Dean had just finished massaging KTs shoulder to try and break up the scar tissue, it was starting to feel like maybe he was making some progress, she had gained a couple of inches in her reach since they started doing this. As he came back in with the heating pad KT looked up at him,

“ _So I’ve been thinking.”_

_“Oh god that’s never good.”_

_“Oh shut up Dean you’re just jealous because thinking requires brain cells, something you’re lacking”_

_“Alright lay it on me cupcake, what have you been thinking?”_

_“So this room is pretty big, and we have a lot of wasted space over there by the wall, why don’t we get some mats and we can use this area for sparing practice_?”

Dean thought about it for a moment, it would be a good spot for that, but he had some concerns.

“ _Not a bad idea but, are you sure you’re up for some sparing practice?”_

 _“Well I mean the doctor said I’m as healed as I’m going to get and now it’s time to strengthen and regain motion, plus there’s a good chance I’ll never actually be better I need to learn how to defend myself with these new issues. Even if I don’t go out searching for trouble can you really tell me you don’t think trouble wont find me_.”

Dean nodded,

“ _Yeah you are a magnet for trouble, yeah alright I’ll get some mats in here_.”

Dean helped KT up and they walked to the stairs, he scooped her up and started walking down the stairs. KT reached out and poked him in the gut,

“ _Plus you and Sam have been getting kind of soft yourselves I think sparing will do everyone some good_.”

Dean huffed,

“ _You know I could totally drop you right?”_

 _“You wouldn’t dare_ ”

She had him there.

            Several days later Sam and Dean had dragged several mats upstairs. The three of them were standing around them unsure how to begin something that used to be second nature to them but now felt foreign. KT sighed,

“ _Alright, how about you two go a few rounds and get back into the swing of things_ ”

It sounded reasonable to the boys, they squared off against each other. As they began to throw punches and evade knees it was like they’d never stopped. After four rounds both men were breathing heavily, so maybe it wasn’t like they had never stopped. Several months of home cooked food and not having to fight for their lives had softened their muscles a bit and caused them to become winded more easily. They were really going to have to do this more often. Dean sat down on the weight bench nearby,

“ _Alright KT why don’t you start with Sam_.”

The boys had discussed it earlier, Sam was more analytical he could tell more quickly if KT was going to hurt herself and could pull his punches. KT and Sam faced off, KT attacked first going for a quick two punch, roundhouse combo. She landed them cleanly, Sam came back at her with a leg swipe, KT jumped out of the way and as she landed she tried to go straight into a new series of attacks but her knee gave out and she tumbled to the mat. Sam paused and offered her a hand up. KT pushed his hand away, scrambling up she tried attacking again. The sparing continued on like this for a while. As KT once again hit the mat panting, Sam sat down next to her,

“ _Look KT we should take a break.”_

_“No I’m fine let’s keep going”_

_“KT we’ve gone a few rounds this is enough for now_ ”

KT went to get up but her knee wouldn’t hold her up anymore. Dean walked over and picked her up,

“ _Alright we’re done for the day_.”

            The next day the three of them were back at it, KT was facing off against Dean this time. KT hit a two-punch combo and went to strike out with her knee when once again she went down. She hit the mat in frustration. From the side of the mat Sam spoke,

“ _You fight like you used to_ ”

KT looked over at him,

“ _Clearly not since I used to be able to kick both your asses.”_

 _“No, you fight like you used to, like you still have a working shoulder and knee joint. You can’t pivot or bare weight on your right knee to throw a kick with your left and forget punches with your left arm even when they land they don’t do damage and they throw you off balance_.”

“ _Well thanks for that vote of confidence Sam”_

 _“KT just listen, you have to relearn how to fight, you can’t kick with your left leg you need to keep that planted but you can kick with your right. And your right hook is still deadly focus on that. Use your left side as defense. Pivot on the left leg, learn to carry something in your left hand to use_.”

KT paused for a second and thought about it, she planned out her next attack. As Dean was relaxed in his stance waiting for her to make her move. She lead off with a right hook and then pushing off with her left leg landed a knee into Dean’s side as he staggered to the left, usually she would then knock someone out with her left hook but this time she bent down and sent Dean sprawling with an uppercut. He regained his footing and lashed out with side kick, which knocked KT off balance as she fell to the mat. KT didn’t appear angry this time, she accepted Dean’s hand up and they continued sparing.

            Three weeks into sparing KT could once again go toe to toe with Sam or Dean, she still occasionally would step wrong and falter or get thrown off balance from her shoulder which sat more forward then the right one. As KT knocked Dean onto his back she let out a crow of victory. Sam had to add a new aspect to their sparing and he knew this might not go well. He helped his brother up and stood facing KT,

“ _You up for another round_?”

KT nodded.

As they started sparing Sam subtly started moving so KT would have to put more weight on her right leg, as her leg buckled and she lost her balance Sam landed a side kick sending her sprawling to the mat. KT sat up and glared, usually when her knee gave out or her shoulder acted up, it put an automatic pause into the match.

“ _Hey_!”

Sam helped her up,

“ _Look you’ve gotten good at fighting with your working limbs but you know the monsters aren’t going to give you a time out, if your knee collapses you need to know how to work around it. Also your enemies are going to target those joints if they figure out they’re weak you need to learn how to protect them and what to do if they do cause you to lose your balance_.”

KT glared,

“ _And you couldn’t of just said all that, you had to knock me down_?”

Sam shrugged and then grinned,

“ _I haven’t knocked you down in a while, seemed like fun_ ”

KT lunged forward at Sam knocking him over and landing on top of him.

“ _At least I don’t fall like a damn tree_ ”

KT got up and helped Sam up, they continued sparing, Sam not stopping when KTs joints gave out like a broken marionette and in fact targeting those weak spots, he always pulled his punches when hitting those areas but leaving enough impact to get KT used to it. She spent most of that session on her back but she’d get the hang of it.

            One week later and KT was sparing with Sam again as Dean sat on the sidelines. Sam lashed out with his left leg going for KTs right knee, it buckled but she rolled into the fall coming up to punch Sam in the stomach, she got to her feet as Sam straightened up, she threw a right hook and he deflected, he then went for her left shoulder, she cried out as the hit struck, even at a quarter of the strength it was enough to bring her to her knees, he landed a lick to her stomach sending her on her back, as he moved forward she hooked his leg with her ankle and yanked them out from under him, Sam landed on his back letting out a large huff of air, Dean was laughing from the sideline. He came over and helped Sam up,

“ _Come on sasquatch up you go, you should know better then to think an opponent on the ground isn’t going to lash out_.”

Both men turned around expecting to see KT standing there grinning at them but found she was still flat on her back. Dean kneeled down,

“ _You ok sweetheart_?”

KT covered her eyes with her hand,

“ _Yeah I’m fine, just stuck”_

_“What?”_

_“Usually I can get to my room before I lose ability to move any of my body after sparing, guess I pushed too hard and it came early this time.”_

_“You can’t move after we spar?”_

_“No, usually for about three hours I’m pretty much stuck. Especially if I’m on my back I can’t sit up from this position and I can’t roll over and push with my legs so yeah I get stuck.”_

_“You’re not seriously telling me that pretty much everyday you just lay immobile for three hours in your room by yourself.”_

_“Ok I wont tell you that_ ”

Dean sighed, KT looked guilty for a moment,

“ _Ok fine, if I have another problem like this I’ll let you know_.”

Dean leaned over and picked KT up off the floor and carried her downstairs. Sam had gone down ahead of them and was already on the couch, Dean put KT down on the couch and Sam pulled her against him. Dean sat down and put her legs over his as he sat. He turned on the TV and the three hunters sat down to watch television for the remainder of the afternoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Nine months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT was sitting on the couch reading a book on water nymphs when she heard a commotion at the front door. The boys had gone out several hours before on a supply run. She heard Dean’s voice booming from the hallway,

“ _KT we need you now_!”

KT got up and moved into the hallway as fast as her bad knee would allow, she found Dean looking frazzled and Sam holding a large lumpy something in his arms which was wrapped in his jacket. KT was confused,

“ _What’s going on_?”

Dean looked angry,

“ _The guy in front of us hit a dog and then drove off, we picked him up and brought him here.”_

 _“Wait what_?”

KT looked more closely at the lump in Sam’s arms, she could make out a leg hanging at an awkward angle and maybe a tail.

“ _You brought him here? Guys he needs an veterinary office”_

_“He looked like he was hurt really bad, we didn’t know where the closest veterinary office was, but we did know where the closest veterinarian was, so here we are.”_

_“Put him on the table in the library, and get my med box_.”

Sam laid the dog out on the table, KT started to catalogue his wounds, he was a large dog, probably a pit-bull mix, he was about 90lbs and was grey with one white spot over his eye that kind of looked like a star and a white tip on his tail. As she was running her hands over him the dog began to whimper. Dean showed up at her side and set the med box down. KT reached over putting on a pair of exam gloves and grabbing her stethoscope. As she listened to the dogs breathing her face began to darken. As she ran her hands down the dog’s chest he let out a yelp. KT stroked the dog’s head,

“ _I’m sorry I’m hurting you baby I just need to check to see where you’re hurt_ ”

KT continued her assessment when she finished she reached into her med box and got out some pain medication, her left hand shook as she held off the vein to inject the medication. She closed her eyes and took a breath, her hand stopped shaking and she injected the pain medication into the dog’s veins. The dog seemed to relax some as the medication did its job. KT turned to the two men standing quietly next to the dog.

“ _Guy’s I’m sorry there’s nothing I can do, I can make sure he passes peacefully_ ”

KT picked up a vial with a blue label. Sam took a step forward,

“ _Wait you can’t just give up!”_

_“Sam, I’m not giving up, the dog has a lot of wounds even if I could stabilize what I could here he needs surgery and the nearest emergency veterinary hospital is three hours away, he wont survive that trip and he’ll be in pain the whole time.”_

_“Can’t you perform the surgery?”_

_“What, on the table in our library? Using what to keep the dog unconscious, whisky? Without a hospital there’s nothing that can be done for this dog.”_

_“So you’re saying there’s a chance the dog could live if he made it to a hospital?”_

_“…There’s a chance, but he won’t make it to the nearest one, I already told you.”_

_“But you have a hospital.”_

_“Oh Sam, no, my hospital has been closed for over a year almost everything in it is expired, plus he needs a hospital with a functioning doctor_ ”

“ _Not everything will have expired, and you can send one of us to liberate more things, and you can do this. Your dexterity is improving, don’t think we don’t notice the missing bananas I know you’ve been practicing suturing and other surgery techniques_.”

“ _Sam this dog has decreased breath sounds on his left side, likely he has a collapsed lung, he may have fluid in his chest, he may have a pierced lung, he is going to need an extensive surgery to repair that, plus he has several lacerations that go all the way down to the bone that’s going to take complicated layering of closure. Not to mention he’s probably got a host of other problems that I don’t know about because I don’t have my radiograph or ultrasound equipment here. Thoracic surgery is incredibly difficult and is not something I can do Sam I can’t.”_

 _“We can help you, I can be your assistant, just try, please, just try_ ”

Sam’s eyes were pleading, he reached out and placed his hand on KTs good shoulder,

“ _Look I’m not asking for a miracle, I get this is asking a lot of you more then you think you can give but just try, if it doesn’t work at least you gave the dog a fighting chance_.”

KT stared at Sam for a moment, she turned at took a look at the dog lying on the table. Finally she reached over and grabbed a pad of paper sitting on the table. She started writing furiously, pen practically scratching through the paper. She tore the paper off the pad and handed it to Dean.

“ _I need everything on this list_ ”

Dean glanced at the list for a minute before nodding. KT turned to Sam,

“ _Pick him up and put him in the car, be careful not to press on his chest he’s having enough trouble breathing. Dean you can drop us off at my clinic before heading out to find those things_.”

KT picked up her med box and headed towards the door. Sam picked up the dog and followed her. The drive to the hospital was quiet, the boys not saying anything, the dog would occasionally whimper and KT would try and sooth him with petting and soft words. They pulled the car around back and KT unlocked the door and headed inside, Sam followed behind her carrying the dog. Dean waited a beat and then drove off into the night.

            KT grabbed several bundles from a cabinet. And set them on the counter she then began to rummage through several drawers, when she found what she wanted she would place it on the counter. She motioned for Sam to place the dog on the metal table. She gave the dog one more quick once over and walked down the hallway. She returned several minutes later her street cloths were gone and she was wearing a pair of navy blue scrubs. She handed Sam a pair of light blue scrubs.

“ _Go change into these, they probably wont fit your overgrown frame but they’re the biggest size we have, I want to try and limit the chances of introducing bacteria to the dog. When you get back grab those packs on the counter and stick them in the flash steam autoclave it’s not the best sterilization but it’s all we have time for_.”

Sam looked at her, confusion on his face as he started to look around,

“ _Sorry forgot, the big scary machine in the corner over there, put the packets in, close the door and hit start_ ”

When Sam returned he was dressed in the scrubs KT had provided, the shirt was swimming on his lean frame and the pants stopped at his ankle but it was good enough.

“ _Sam help me move him into the radiograph room_.”

Sam picked up the dog and followed KT into the room she indicated, he laid the dog on the table and KT began to push buttons on the machine overhead, angling it over the dog. She ushered Sam out of the room and closed the door, she hit a button and the machine wurred to life, she pushed the button further down and it made a beeping noise. An image appeared on the screen, KT studied it for a minute and then walked back inside and moved the machine. She continued repeating this process until she was apparently satisfied. The autoclave behind them beeped, without looking up from the screen KT spoke,

“ _Can you crack open the door of the autoclave? Stand to the side when you do it the steam is hot as hell_.”

Sam nodded and walked over to do as KT asked. When he came back over she was still studying the radiographs she had taken.

“ _Is there anything I can do to help?”_

 _“Yeah, put him back on the exam table, be careful, a few of his ribs are broken, and his right paw as well_.”

KT walked over to the things she had placed on the counter, she put on a pair of exam gloves and opened up supplies to put a catheter in the dog’s vein. She got through the clipping of the fur, scrubbing of the skin and even placed the catheter with little problem, it was when it came to taping the catheter in place that her hand betrayed her. She kept spaziming ever time she tried to wrap the tape around the dog’s leg. After the fourth piece of tape got tangled up and the adhesive stuck on itself until it became a ball of mush she threw it on the ground annoyed. Sam put his hand on her shoulder,

“ _What can I do to help?”_

_“It’s fine I’ll just tape it a different way.”_

_“KT I think you can trust me to put some tape on the dog, I mean soon you’re going to have to trust me with your hands inside his chest, why don’t you see how well I follow directions now_ ”

Sam said this last bit with a wink but KT could tell he was serious. She tore off two long pieces of tape and tore one in half lengthwise.

“ _Ok so take one of the pieces I tore in half, stick it under the catheter with the adhesive side facing up_.”

Sam nodded and started following KTs instructions,

“ _Now wrap that around the hub in a crisscross fashion, now take the other thin piece and wrap it around the leg, good yes like that. Take the thick piece tear it in the middle half way through so it’s still in one piece. Now stich the torn part around the hub and wrap it_.”

When Sam finished taping in the catheter KT checked his work,

“ _Good job Sam”_

 _“Thank I had no idea taping anything could be so complicated_.”

KT chuckled. The sound of the back door startled them both, the familiar sound of Dean’s boots could be heard walking down the hallway. He rounded the corner carrying a large box smiling like a kid who had just robed a candy store.

“ _Got all of it!”_

 _“Great, hand me the Isoflurane bottle and start emptying out the box onto the counter_.”

Dean handed her the brown bottle with the strange nozzle on top. She opened it and poured it into the machine she had near the dog’s head. She closed up the machine and put the bottle down. She grabbed a bottle with a white powder in it and a bottle of sterile water, she mixed the two and made a milky white substance.

 _“Alright, Dean go change into the scrubs I left in the bathroom, this part goes fast and I’m going to need help_.”

KT emptied the bottle into a syringe and caped it. She got a small table and placed a few strange looking tubes, something metal and a syringe on it. Dean returned and KT held up a pair of clippers and a piece of gauze.

“ _Alright Dean, gauze or clippers?”_

 _“Better give me the clippers, lord know Sammy doesn’t know how to use those_ ”

KT took a look over at Sam’s unruly mop of hair falling into his face,

“ _Good point, also, Sam, any chance you can get your hair pulled back_?”

Sam pulled his hair back into a small ponytail as Dean took the clippers from KT.

“ _Ok, Dean when I say so, start clipping the entire chest of the dog, when you finish with that clip any wound you see. Sam I’m going to inject this induction agent into the dog’s catheter, when he in unconscious I want you to hold his head up and take this gauze and pull his tongue out and hold it to the side ok_?”

Sam nodded and Dean laughed,

“ _I made the right decision, blehg dog tongue_ ”

KT injected the medication into the dog and after several moments his jaw went slack and his eyes closed. KT motioned for Sam to grab his head. Sam opened the dogs jaw and his large tongue lolled out landing on Sam’s wrist, Dean made a gagging sound and KT glared at him for a moment before returning to the task at hand. She grabbed a tube from the table and threaded it down the dogs throat, when she got a puff of air in through it she took the syringe and injected air into the port on the side, when she was satisfied she taped it in place. Sam lowered the dog’s head. She hooked the dog up to the machine, which started pumping out the inhaled gas and oxygen. She attached a few different monitors to the dog, and hooked up a bag of IV fluids to the dog’s catheter, when she was satisfied she nodded towards Dean.

“ _Alright Dean start clipping_.”

Dean turned on the clippers and started shaving the dog’s chest. KT turned to Sam, she fished something out of her pocket and handed it to Sam.

“ _So I can’t actually get my scrub cap on my head can you put it on for me_.”

Sam examined the thing in his hands more closely, it was a red scrub cap with small black paw prints all over it, it wasn’t quite shaped like the ones he’d seen on TV, instead of being flat on the back it had an extra pouch. As he placed it on KTs head, he realized the extra pouch was for her braid to go in so that all of her hair was incased in the cap. As he tied the cap onto her head he just couldn’t help asking,

“ _Did you make this yourself_?”

KT sounded sheepish when she answered,

“ _Yeah, they don’t really make caps that fit all my hair so I improvised_.”

Sam laughed. When the cap was secure KT grabbed two boxes of gauze that were soaking in different liquids.

“ _Ok Sam what ever Dean has clipped you clean, go over everything really well with the blue scrub once it starts coming back clean then you start a surgical scrub with the blue and finish off with the clear. Oh and remember left hand is your clean hand, right hand is your dirty hand_.”

Dean snorted,

“ _Just like at home right Sammy_?”

Sam cuffed his brother on the back of his head with his open palm. KT ignored the boy’s antics. She pulled the packs out of the autoclave and opened the first layer of the one she needed, she dropped a pair of gloves on top. She placed a mask over her face. She turned to the sink and started scrubbing her hands. Five minutes later she grabbed a sterile towel and dried her hands. Dean finished clipping the last wound and turned the clippers off. KT had gotten her gown on but could only get it up to her elbows,

“ _Dean I need some help over here”_

_“What do you need cupcake?”_

_“Ok stand behind me and grab the strings on either side of the neck of the gown but don’t touch any other part of the gown_.”

Dean studied the problem for a moment and then reached over KTs shoulder, he carefully grabbed the strings on either side of the gown and pulled up.

“ _Great, now tie those loosely around my neck, and tie the lower ones around my waste.”_

_“Look’s like you’re ready for the ball princess.”_

KT reached forward and started putting on her gloves,

“ _Dean, go take over cleaning the wounds from Sam, Sam come over to the sink, grab yourself a cap and mask and start scrubbing your hands you’re joining me in the OR._ ”

Dean nudged Sam out of the way and asked good naturally,

“ _Hey! How come you picked Sam and not me to go in there?”_

 _“Well see Dean I need two people to help out, a clean nurse, and a dirty nurse_ ”

Sam sputtered out a laugh as he turned on the sink, he couldn’t see the grin on KTs face because of the mask but he knew it was there.

            Sam finished scrubbing and Dean finished cleaning the dog. KT began getting the dog ready for surgery. When the dog was all draped and ready KT stood at the table, scalpel in her hand. The boys had both been given their instructions for what they needed to be doing. KT moved to make the first cut but then paused, she looked down at the dogs face and then back up at Sam, Sam smiled underneath his mask,

“ _Just try your best, no one can ask anymore of you then that_.”

KT took a breath and made the first cut. The surgery in the dogs chest took four hours, during that time Sam had his hands inside a dogs chest, which, was not something he ever thought would happen. For the most part KT did great, she identified the problem in the dog’s chest, ligating the torn vessels and draining the fluid that had built up in the dog’s chest. More then once she had to have Sam step in and be her hands but he listened to her instructions and followed them to a tee. She placed a chest tube in the dog’s chest and closed up the large incision. She then moved on to start closing the numerous lacerations covering the dog’s body.

“ _Dean are the dogs vitals steady?”_

_“Yes”_

_“Ok, come over here for a minute, I need you to hold me up for a minute.”_

_“What?”_

_“Just stand behind me, stick your hands under my gown and hold my waste, my knee is about to give out and my back is cramping up and if I don’t take the weight off I’m going to collapse_.”

Dean hurried over and did what KT asked him to do, as he secured his arms around her waste her body gave out against him. She stayed like that for a long moment just breathing deeply. Eventually her knees didn’t feel so weak and she was able to stand back up.

“ _Alright you can let me go now Dean, thanks_ ”

“ _No problem sweetheart_.”

It took two more hours for KT to close all the lacerations on the dog’s body. Her hands were shaking so badly by the time she got to the last stitch it was hard for Sam to even cut the extra suture. KT took off her gloves and gown and turned the gas off, she grabbed the supplies to splint the dog’s broken carpel bone. By the time the splint was properly placed the dog had started to cough into the tube in his throat indicating he was starting to wake up. KT pulled the tube out of his throat.

“ _Sam put him on the blankets on the floor there in the corner_.”

Sam lifted the dog and placed him gently onto the nest of blankets. KT took two steps over to the wall and slid down it onto the ground. She pulled the cap off her head and rested her head against the wall. Sam sat with the dog as he continued to wake up, Dean started assessing KTs status. Her whole body was trembling, he didn’t think she could lift her left arm and by the way her whole leg was violently tremoring she wouldn’t be walking anytime soon.

“ _Ok one of you should go home, the other needs to stay here with me_.”

Dean looked down at her incredulously,

“ _What?”_

 _“Dean it’s three thirty in the morning and the dog’s chest tube needs to be checked and potentially drained every two hours someone has to stay and monitor the dog and that someone has to be me, but, because I’m fairly sure I can’t actually move, someone has to stay behind and help me_.”

Sam was stroking the dog’s head who had started whimpering softly,

“ _I’ll stay with KT, Dean you go home get some sleep, come back at nine in the morning…with coffee_ ”

Dean walked out of the building. The dogs whimpering was getting louder, KT tried to get up off the floor but was unsuccessful, she then tried to crawl but her body just would not hold her up, finally she leaned back against the wall.

“ _Sam, drag the bedding the dog’s laying on over to me please_?”

Sam gingerly slid the dog next to KT, she started checking the dog over, everything seemed intact, he was just probably disoriented and sore.

“ _Go get me an icepack from the freezer and then get the vial with the red label and a syringe_.”

Sam got the items KT had asked for, she placed the icepack on the large incision on the dog’s chest and injected the drug into the dogs catheter. The dog stopped whimpering and settled in against KTs leg. Sam slid down the wall on the opposite side of the dog and started petting his side. KT laid her head back and closed her eyes, she was quickly startled out of her almost slumber by the sound of the backdoor opening. KT started talking before she even saw Dean come down the hallway,

“ _Dean what the hell, I told you go home_!”

Dean rounded the corner a fast-food bag in his hand, he opened it up and tossed each one of them a burger,

“ _Sorry Sammy no rabbit food at the drive through at this hour_ ”

KT didn’t realize how hungry she was until the burger was in her hands, but now that she had it, she suddenly felt that if she didn’t start eating this second her stomach was going to eat itself. KT practically inhaled the burger, she looked up and before she could even ask the question another burger landed in her lap. She ate this one a little slower but not much. When that burger was finished she looked up again, this time she was handed a container of fries. She looked up at Dean a question in her eyes, Dean filled in the blanks,

“ _Yeah I’ve been on hunts with you, I’ve seen you practically down an entire cow after a hard hunt I figured it was the same in this situation. There are two more burgers and three more things of fries with your name on it_.”

Dean handed KT the bag and she made a pleased sound as she continued to inhale her food. When all the food was gone KT did another assessment of the dog, he was resting comfortably, one of the deeper wounds had oozed through the bandage,

“ _Hey Dean can you grab that bandage material I need to change the dogs bandage here_?”

Sam picked up the fast-food bags and walked them to the garbage.

“ _You know_ ,” Sam started conversationally,

“ _We can’t really keep calling him ‘the dog’ we should probably come up with something to call him_.”

KT shook her head,

“ _Oh no, that’s a bad plan Sam you don’t want to get attached to the dog, tomorrow we can drop him off at the vet office when it’s open and they can start looking for his owners.”_

“ _Do you really think he has owners? He has no collar, he’s super skinny, come on now”_

 _“Even if he doesn’t have owners they can find him a person to adopt him, we aren’t keeping him_ ”

“ _Well maybe not for good, but we could at least keep him while he heals up, I doubt anyone is going to want to take on all the stuff he’s going to need while he heals.”_

 _“Sam I don’t think that’s a good idea_.”

Dean handed KT the bandage material,

“ _Bowie_.”

KT looked up at him,

“ _Excuse me?”_

 _“Bowie, we should call him Bowie. I mean look at that star on his face it practically screams space odyssey_.”

Sam sat back down next to the dog and stroked his head,

“ _Is that your name, Bowie_?”

The dogs tail gave the tiniest of wags and KT groaned she knew they were in trouble now.

            The boys took turns staying up with KT and helping her. When she deemed the dog stable enough she began taking quick naps between assessments. Whichever man was on assistant duty would lean against the wall and KT would sleep against his chest. The full body tremors she was experiencing were really starting to worry the brothers but there was no reasoning with KT when she was in doctor mode. By midafternoon on the second day KT pulled out the chest tube. With a second set of radiographs and a quick ultrasound KT declared that Bowie was able to come home with them. When they got home Sam placed Bowie on a dog bed that Dean had mysteriously returned with on one of his trips out for food. When KT deemed he was comfortable and could be left alone for a bit she went to stand up and promptly passed out. Dean managed to catch her before she hit the ground. When KT woke up she was confused by her surroundings, it took her a moment to realize she was on the couch in the living room, when she moved to get up the couch grabbed her around the middle keeping her seated, no that couldn’t be right, upon further assessment KT was laying on Sam who was on the couch in the living room.

“ _KT stay put.”_

_“I have to check on Bowie.”_

_“Look down_ ”

The boys had moved Bowie’s dog bed to the foot of the couch; the dog appeared to be sleeping comfortably. Dean walked into the room a sandwich and a soda in his hands. He gave them to KT whose hands shook as she placed them in her lap. Dean moved her legs so he could sit down and placed her feet back down into his lap,

“ _First off, amazing job with the dog, you were a rock star. There was so much blood and you just, wow. You kicked ass, that dog is alive because of you_.”

KT squirmed under Dean’s praise, but then he turned and fixed her with a piercing look,

“ _You are not a machine, and if you run yourself down to pure exhaustion you aren’t helping anyone. You have to learn to ask for help from us_.”

KT looked down at her lap and nodded,

“ _Good, now eat up_.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Nine months and two weeks post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT was lying on the ground next to Bowie who was lying on his side.

“ _Alright Bowie I’m just going to take your stitches out and then I’m going to rewrap your splint and the daily torture will be over. Of course with all the sutures in you this may take a long while_.”

KT leaned forward to start removing sutures and Bowie gave her a large lick across her face,

“ _Thanks for the vote of confidence buddy_.”

KT meticulously removed every stitch from the dog’s body, his tail thumped against the floor the entire time. KT removed the splint, checked the dogs paw for any wounds or signs it was sitting wrong, satisfied with how it looked she rewrapped the splint.

“ _Your paw looks like it’s healing really well, in about two more weeks we’ll take a ride in the car and take a new radiograph of it to make sure. Would you like that, a ride in the car_?”

Bowie licked her on the nose, KT leaned forward conspiratorially,

“ _You know you’re one lucky dog, Dean does not allow animals in the Impala and you have now ridden in it three times_.”

The dog let out a low woof as if he was less then impressed with this information.

“ _Don’t go telling him that, now he’ll think I’ve gone soft_ ”

KT looked over her shoulder to see Dean leaning against the doorframe a smile on his lips,

“ _How long have you been there Dean?”_

_“Oh you know not too long, just long enough to have blackmail for the next few years.”_

KT groaned, she tried to roll to her stomach to push herself off the ground but her arms shook. Dean walked over and helped her up off the ground. Bowie let out a low woof at losing his friend. Dean looked down at him and paused there was a collar around the dog’s neck, he squatted down to have a closer look. The collar was black, and in silver thread it had embroidered an anti-possession symbol, a protection sigil and a number of other charms and symbols. He rotated the collar around and noticed the clasp was iron. Dean stood back up, grin planted on his face, KT put her hands on her hips,

“ _Don’t mock me, the dog needed some sort of protection while he was stuck with us”_

 _“Can demons possess dogs_?”

KT shrugged,

“ _I don’t know but wouldn’t that just be our luck to have a demon inhabit the dog that is staying with us?”_

 _“True, so you’re warming up to the idea of the dog staying here huh_?”

“ _Oh I almost forgot here are some lost dog fliers, I figure now that we know Bowie is going to make it, it’s time to start putting these up around town_.”

Dean took the fliers, he knew they should make sure the dog didn’t have an owner before making any plans but somehow the dog had wormed his way into everyone’s heart. The dog took to sleeping in KTs bed, he’d seen that he liked to curl behind her back almost propping the woman up. He would hang out with Sam in the library while he did research and even would sit with Dean while he prepared meals. Of course if the dog maybe got a few pieces of bacon for exchange for his company Dean would never tell. Bowie stood up and licked Dean’s hand, Dean gave the dogs head a pat.

 _“Guess I should go hang these up then_ ”

If Dean had a lump in his throat when he walked out the door who would blame him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Ten months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Dean juggled his keys trying to get the house key into the lock with one hand and hold the groceries he’d picked up in the other. Sam stood behind him arms full of bags, Dean had gone a bit overboard on the shopping. Dean made a satisfied sound as he got the door open. He stepped into the house and was immediately concerned, ever since they had brought the dog back to their house he had taken to greeting return travelers at the door tail wagging and giving out dog kisses freely. Dean looked down there was no dog to greet him. He put the groceries down on the counter in the kitchen and called out,

“ _Bowie_?”

He heard whining and went to follow the sound, as he walked down the hallway the dogs head popped out of KTs room, his ears were flat against his head and he was whining softly. Dean followed the dog into KTs room, Sam hot on his heels. What he saw confused him even more. KT was dressed in her hunter attire, she had on a black and white plaid shirt with a leather jacket over it, a pair of black jeans and her combat boots. She looked harsh in the light of the bedroom, the boys had gotten used to seeing her in soft t-shirts and yoga pants. She was hunched over her bed packing weapons in her bag. Dean raised his eyebrow, with the amount of weapons she had she must have gone up and down the stairs at least four times, how did she even manage that?

“ _Uh, KT_ ”

KT turned around quickly straightening up when she saw the Winchester’s standing in her doorway.

“ _God I thought you were never going to get home, come on grab your gear we’ve got to get moving_.”

“ _Woh, woh, woh, slow down what are you talking about_?”

KT spoke very slowly, annoyance written allover her face,

“ _You. Me. Sam. Hunt. Now_ ”

Dean rolled his eyes.  
“ _Did you hit your head or something, we don’t hunt right now, remember_?”

KT glared at Dean, Dean held her gaze and glared right back. Eventually KT sighed and grabbed her laptop opening it up to a page about a local hotel and turning it so the boys could take a look at it.

“ _Look, I made it a priority of mine to know about every local legend and haunt in this town when I took up residence. With everything going on I had forgotten about a lot of the hunts that were time dependent. An alarm on my phone went off today reminding me of a hunt that has to happen today or a lot of people are going to die_.”

Sam sat down and started to click through the research KT had pulled up. Dean crossed his arms,

“ _Ok, so contact one of the other hunters we know and send them the information.”_

 _“Don’t you think I already looked into that, I checked everyone’s GPS, no one is within ten hours of this town, no one will make it in time_.”

Sam let out a low whistle at the information on the laptop in front of him.

“ _This is bad_.”

“ _I know, that’s why we need to go. Look it’s a vengeful spirit the actual hunt is routine but it’s the spirit of Margret Barn’s, she was accused of being a witch and the towns people locked her in her house and burned it to the ground with her inside. Every fifty years the residents of the house currently on the lot are locked inside and it’s burned to the ground. The whole scenario is bad enough except now the house on that lot is a hotel and it has become very popular and is usually full. So instead of killing a family Margret is going to toast dozens of people_.”

Sam was writing down the address of the Roxbury Hotel and clicking through more pages on the laptop,

“ _Ok so do you have any idea what the spirit could be tied to since the body was burned?”_

 _“I have some theories, I’m pretty sure it’s the old oak tree in the back of the lot, I have three back up possibilities they’re all listed in the word document there_.”

KT pointed to a spot on the laptop and Sam started scribbling down the information. When he’d jotted down all the important information he nodded at Dean. Dean turned to KT,

“ _Ok Sam and I will take care of this_.”

KTs body tensed as Dean’s words sunk in,

“ _Dean I’m coming with you guys.”_

_“No you’re not.”_

_“Dean you don’t know the place, I’ve scouted it out multiple times, plus I’m pretty sure Margret was actually a witch in her day so her spirit is going to be extra angry, I’m coming with you.”_

_“KT this isn’t up for discussion you’re staying here”_

_“Dean you’ve said it yourself, I’m getting better, I can help”_

_“No.”_

_“No?, NO?! Dean you are not the boss of me, you are going to need back up, do you know how big that tree is that you’re going to have to chop down and burn with a vengeful witch spirit hounding your ass?”_

_“I SAID NO_!”

KT took a step back in shock, Dean threw his arms up in the air,

“ _Enough KT just stop, you’re not better, you get tired walking to the back of the house, I can’t be watching out for your ass while we’re out there. Besides what are you going to do to help? I’m not sure you can even hold a gun let alone shoot one. Just stay here Sam and I can handle this_.”

Dean turned on his heals and stormed out of the room, Bowie let out a low growl as he passed him. Dean glanced at the dog,

“ _Yeah buddy I want to take a bite out of me to, trust me_.”

During their argument Sam had packed up the gear they would need, he met Dean in the hallway and the two of them headed out the door. Dean was seething in the drivers seat, Sam looked over at his brother,

“ _Dude.”_

 _“Don’t Sam, just don’t_ ”

            The hunt went pretty much just as KT had predicted, the boys went into the hotel and started emptying it room by room, they used an excuse of a gas leak. Just as the last of the guest were leaving the place, it grew cold. Dean pumped his shotgun and waited. A very pissed off Margret appeared and he shot her full of rock salt. The boys headed towards where KT had indicated the oak tree was,

“ _Shit” Dean muttered to himself_ ,

The tree was huge, this was going to take a while. Sam grabbed an axe and started chopping, Margret appeared again and lunged towards Sam, Dean once again shot her full of rock salt. Suddenly the tree started to shake, Sam stopped chopping and took a step back, they heard a disembodies voice hiss

“ _FOOLS!_ ”

The tree suddenly exploded, sending splinters of wood like shrapnel at the boys. Sam took a few to the side, as he crashed to the ground he felt his right thumb bend back at an unnatural angle. He looked over to the side to see his brother had taken the brunt of the tree shrapnel, he was covered in cuts and had a large branch sticking out of his arm. Dean sat up and shook his head,

“ _Sammy I don’t think it’s the tree”_

_“No, but she seems stronger near it, I think it’s something under the tree.”_

The air grew cold again and a fully formed Margret appeared in front of them, she grabbed Sam and threw him across the lawn. Dean once again pumped his shotgun and shot at the angry spirit. As she blinked out of sight he went o grab his brother,

 _“I’m guessing by that reaction you’re right. Better get to digging_ ”

Sam grabbed his shovel and started digging under the tree stump that remained after Margret’s little light show. He could hear Dean’s shotgun going off at closer and closer frequency.

“ _Sam hurry it up man_!”

As Sam turned over the tree stump he found a spell book, he quickly salted and burned it. He turned around to see his brother on the ground, shotgun held up, he walked over and gave Dean a hand up off the ground. Dean groaned,

“ _Man, that sucked, I’m getting too old for this crap man_.”

Sam did a quick assessment of this brother, he had several cuts that were going to need stitches, especially the one sluggishly bleeding at his side and the one where the tree branch was still sticking out of his arm, but he’d live. Sam felt his hand throbbing and saw that his thumb had swollen up, he hoped the angry hunter back home was in a forgiving mood because Dean needed stitches and he was not in a state to be able to provide them.

            KT sat at the kitchen table, she was on her fifth cup of coffee Bowie was curled at her feet. She had started out the evening angrily pacing but after only a few minutes her knee had protested too much. She had let out her frustrations on one of the many throw pillows in the house. She heard the front door open and she got up and met the two hunters in the hallway. She gave them a quick once over and when she deemed they were both going to live she stormed back into the kitchen. The boys followed her into the room, albeit slower, since their bodies were protesting the beating they had taken at the spirits hands. KT put her med box on the table and pushed it towards Sam,

“ _Patch your brother up before he bleeds all over the kitchen_.”

Sam held up his swollen right hand,

“ _I uh, can’t_ ”

KT let out a loud put upon sigh,

“ _You’re both idiots_.”

KT got up and walked to the side of the table Dean was sitting on, she put on a pair of exam gloves and started assessing each wound.

“ _Alright, the large gash on your side, the two on your forearm, and the one that you have a freaking tree sticking out of need suturing. Though the tree one is circular and jagged, odds are it’s going to scar_.”

Dean tried to put a cocky grin on his face but it didn’t quite reach his eyes,

“ _That’s ok, chicks dig scars_ ”

KT rolled her eyes and yanked the tree branch out of Dean’s arm, he let out a low groan, KT smirked at him,

“ _Sorry pretty boy, I mean maybe if you had someone to patch you up who was more reliable, someone you didn’t think was a liability, someone who you didn’t have to constantly watch out for maybe their hand wouldn’t shake and they could get this done without causing a scar, but for now you’re still stuck with me_.”

KT was concentrating on removing the splinters and debris from the wound on Dean’s arm so she couldn’t see the look of devastation on Dean’s face or the look of fire and anger on Sam’s. Sam glared at his brother, his eyes screaming “fix this now”.

“ _Sweetheart that’s not what I meant”_

 _“Sam can you hand me that scalpel_?”

Dean’s eyes widened,

“ _Woh, hey now I don’t think you need to resort to anything drastic, I like all my body parts_.”

KT rolled her eyes and gave Dean a quick glance,

“ _Dumbass, this wound is circular, you can’t just close that up, the ends wont meet and then you get a dog eared wound. I have to make the wound more linear to close it correctly_.”

“ _Oh, ok. So like I was trying to say, all those things I said to you before I didn’t mean it like that, it’s bec- OW_ ”

KT looked up innocently at Dean,

“ _Sorry, I should have warned you I was about to cut into your arm, whoops_.”

Sam snickered at the situation developing in front of him. KT put down the scalpel and started closing the wound on Dean’s arm. As KT fell into a rhythm suturing Dean continued his apology.

“ _Right, as I was saying, what I said was awful and I get that, I didn’t mean it like you’re taking it.”_

KT stopped suturing for a second and fixed Dean with a look, he knew he needed to get this out before she finished patching him up judging by that look, either he was leaving the table minus some body parts, or, KT might walk out the door for good.

“ _When I said I can’t be watching out for you when we’re out there I meant it, but not because I think you aren’t a great hunter, I meant it because I’m not ready for you to be back out in the field yet, we haven’t tested out most of your skills yet, and if I don’t know you’re ready then I’m going to end up doing something stupid on a hunt, because I can’t see you get hurt again, this is a me problem not you. I almost didn’t survive the last time, I can not live through something like that again_.”

KT finished closing up the wound in Dean’s arm and moved to the one on his side.

“ _That’s bullshit Dean_.”

Dean sputtered,

“ _No Dean, that’s bullshit. You can’t survive seeing me get hurt, who’s sitting in our kitchen bleeding right now? That’s right, you. Do you think I liked waiting here in the house for the two of you to come stumbling back in, the whole time thinking of the different ways this hunt could have gone wrong_?”

Dean sighed,

“ _Ok, I get it, but look we can’t stay in this limbo we’re in with the not hunting, but will hunt in case of emergency. We need to come up with a check point system, like ability to shoot a handgun, wield a machete properly, run at least one mile away from danger. That way, whether we decide to get back to hunting full time or only hunt in case of emergency there wont be any surprises_.”

“ _Deal, but you two idiots need to pass the checklist as well, judging by todays hunt you need some re-education as well_.”

“ _Deal_ ”

“ _I’ll make a chart and put it on the fridge, I’ll even let you boys choose what sticker you get for your achievements”_

_“Deal”_

KT finished suturing Dean’s side and moved on to work on the two small wounds on his forearm. By the time she finishing the last one her left hand had dropped the forceps six separate times. She tied off the final suture, and looked up at Dean,

“ _Sorry that last wound may actually scar, my hand wasn’t strong enough to pull the suture tight enough_.”

Dean grinned,

“ _Not a problem, like I told you, chicks dig scars_.”

KT went to close her medical box when she stopped, she turned to the boys a smile on her face, Dean’s blood ran cold at the glee in her eyes.

“ _Boy’s I almost forgot, you were both cut up pretty bad from that super old tree.”_

 _“Yes…and you patched us up_.”

KT leaned down and started filling a syringe as she casually replied,

“ _Yes but did you know that old wood is one of the most common places you can find tetanus toxoid_.”

Deans memory flashed back to the last time the hunter had given him a tetanus shot, he rubbed his rear end as the sense memory made his ass ache.

“ _Oh no, no, just no. You gave us a tetanus shot a few years ago.”_

 _“I remember, but that was maybe six years ago, the recommended booster is every ten years I know, but with how you boys get into trouble it would be best to booster you both now_.”

Dean fixed KT with a stare and she stared right back, eventually Dean blinked. KT laughed,

“ _Pant’s down boys and face the counter_.”

When both boys were properly vaccinated KT went off to bed chuckling the whole way. Sam turned to his brother, his non-swollen hand rubbing his ass where the large injection had gone.

“ _You had to make her angry didn’t you_?”

Dean was rubbing his own injection site.

“ _Shut up man_ ”

            When KT got up the next day she notices Deans stiff movements at the kitchen counter. She sat down at the kitchen table and began to drink her first cup of coffee of the day. When Sam walked in, he too was moving gingerly. As she watched the two boys walking around like old men she had to suppress a chuckle. After a while she could see Dean was gearing himself up to start their daily PT session. KT got up and walked down the hallway she returned with a stack of Bruce Lee movies under her arm,

“ _Come on boys_ ”

KT walked into the living room, the brother’s looked at each other confused for a moment before following her. As they rounded into the living room KT was just finishing putting a DVD into the machine. Dean looked at KT as she moved over to sit on the couch,

“ _KT we have to go start physical therapy_.”

“ _Not today pretty boy, you and your brother are moving around like you’re ninety years old. I am declaring today a day off for everyone. We’re going to order pizza and spend the day watching Bruce Lee kick some ass. Come on boys get your butts over to the couch_.”

Sam rubbed his backside as he moved to sit next to KT,

“ _Please don’t mention our butts for at least a week please_.”

KT laughed, Dean rounded the couch to sit on her other side. As they settled into their usually lounging positions Dean took a closer look at the stack of DVDs, he turned to glare at KT,

“ _Those are mine, I thought I told you to stay out of my room_.”

KT cackled as she pressed play on the remote and the three hunters settles down for a lazy movie day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Ten months and two week post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT finished removing the sutures from Deans arm and side. She stood up, removed the exam gloves from her hands and patted Dean on the shoulder,

“ _Alright, clean bill of health. Now grab your car keys we have an errand to run.”_

_“Where are we going?”_

_“Come on get a move on.”_

_“Where are we going_?”

Dean heard the door open and shut again, he waited a beat before he heard a horn beeping, he got up and hurried towards the door,

“ _She did not just pick the lock of the impala_!”

When Dean got outside KT was sitting in the passenger seat of the impala grin on her face. Dean got into the car and stroked the steering wheel,

“ _Did she hurt you Baby_?”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _I didn’t hurt your precious Impala Dean, now come on lets get moving, make a left at the end of the driveway and I’ll give you directions as we go….oh and Dean, you can put a sticker on lock picking on the hunter list for me_.”

As Dean looked over at KT she stuck her tongue out at him, he shook his head and started driving down the road.

            As they pulled into their final destination Dean looked around and frowned, they were at a shooting range.

“ _KT, what are we doing here_.”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _Please Dean don’t give me that, I will not have you pull another ‘I don’t even know if you can shoot a gun’ act_.”

Dean hung his head for a moment and then nodded. The gun range was pretty empty, not many people out shooting targets at ten in the morning on a Wednesday. Dean watched as KT gripped the handgun in both hands as she leveled her arms the left one began to shake, the shoulder protesting the motion. She squeezed the trigger three times, two hit wide on the edge of the target and one missed completely. She set the gun down and swung her arm trying to stretch out the muscles. She picked the gun up again and fired, once again she was wide on the target. Dean watched as she got increasingly frustrated with her trembling muscles. Dean stepped up behind her and started to hum into her ear. KT set the gun down,

“ _What are you doing?”_

_“Humming”_

_“Yeah I got that, but why?”_

_“Well humming always relaxes you during PT, I figured it was worth a try here to. The more annoyed you get the more your muscles spasm, instead of concentrating on your body, concentrate on the music_.”

Dean began to hum again, KT lifted the gun and squared her shoulders, she took a deep breath listening to music in her ear. She fired off three shots. They hit close to the center of the target, she set the gun back down.

“ _Are you humming Saturday Night Special_?”

Dean ginned,

“ _Hey just setting the mood, Lynyrd Skynyrd knew how to write a song about guns_.”

KT shook her head but picked the gun back up, Dean continued humming as KT fired one more shot. This one hit dead center. She put the gun down her entire arm tremoring. She turned to Dean,

“ _There will be no living with you after this will there_?”

Dean just grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Eleven months post surgery: KTs Animal Clinic**

            KT examined the radiographs she had just taken of Bowie’s carpal bones. Sam was sitting on the ground with the dog on his lap stroking between his ears. KT smiled as she finished looking at the radiographs.

“ _Sam can you put him up on the exam table please_?”

Sam stood up and scooped the dog up and placed him on the table, he kept his hands on the dog to keep him from jumping off the table. KT started doing a complete physical exam on the dog, Bowie didn’t flinch at all as she palpated his ribs. She saved the paw for last, she rotated the joint around pushing it to full extension and flexion. The dog remained calm as she finished checking him over. She put her stethoscope on and listened to the dog’s heart and lungs, when she was done she hung the device around her neck. She stroked the dog’s ear,

“ _Alright buddy you’ve got a clean bill of health. Lungs sound great, all your bones are healed and you don’t need to wear that splint anymore_.”

Bowie licked her nose, KT scrunched her face up at him before giving him another pat on the head. KT turned to put her instruments away as Sam lowered the dog off the table. As KT turned back around she spoke to Sam,

“ _So we didn’t get any calls with the lost dog fliers so I’m pretty sure Bowie was a stray_.”

Sam kneeled down and scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“ _So I was thinking now that he has a clean bill of health I could call one of my adoption center connections so they can start looking for a home for the guy_.”

Sam’s expression was shocked,

“ _KT I thought since no one had claimed him we were going to keep him.”_

 _“Well yeah we agreed to foster him, but now that he’s all better we should find him a good stable home_.”

“ _We are a good stable home.”_

_“Sam, we’re a house with two hunters and a stay at home, well I don’t know what I am.”_

_“You’re a veterinarian and a hunter.”_

_“Still can’t do either of those.”_

_“Actually about that, I was thinking, what if you re-opened your practice_.”

KT fixed Sam with a look, he scrambled to continue,

“ _Part time! Maybe a few afternoons a week, Dean and I could be around to help you, and you could start really slow, I mean look at all the good you did for Bowie how can you deprive all the other animals in the world from your healing touch.”_

_“Don’t play cute with me.”_

_“I’m serous! Just think about it?”_

_“Fine I’ll think about it_.”

Sam let out a crow of victory, KT turned back to the sink to make sure everything was in order

“ _And while you’re thinking about it why don’t you think about it while cuddling your adopted rescue dog whose life you saved and who loves his perfectly stable home with his three semi-retired hunters_.”

When KT turned back around she was fixed with double puppy dog eyes of doom, one set from an actual puppy dog and one set from a six foot four hunter who could kill a man using only his pinky. KT threw her hands up in the air,

“ _Alright alright I give up, we can keep Bowie, but you boys are responsible for taking care of him_.”

Sam jumped up and cheered, Bowie got caught up in the excitement and let out a bark, Sam looked down at the dog and smiled,

“ _Alright Bowie lets get her_!”

Sam rushed at KT and picked her up off the ground, Bowie started running around Sam’s feet as he spun KT around. Sam dipped KT so her head was facing the ground, Bowie took the opportunity to give as many doggie kisses to the woman’s face as he possibly could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Twelve months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            Dean watched as KT lifted weights, she was up to 50lbs not as much as she could lift before the whole shoulder injury occurred but a far cry from the 1lb she struggled to pick up when they started physical therapy. KT set down the weights and headed to the table. Dean came over to start stretching her shoulder. He didn’t think she’d ever have full range of motion back but where he used to be able to only move her arm slightly, he could now get it to reach the table behind her head. Today he asked her to explain how to hack red light cameras to track a car. She had made so much progress since they started this whole domestic situation and Dean was proud of her for sticking with it. She still had good days and bad days but the good where starting to out number the bad.

            When he was done stretching her shoulder is was time to start trying to break up the scar tissue, he walked out for a moment so KT could situate herself on the table. He came back in and started trying to relax her muscles. Today he chose to hum Poison’s ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’. KT chuckled at his song choice,

“ _That’s a little cheesy don’t you think_?”

Dean shrugged and kept massaging her back. When he was finished he walked out for a moment so KT could get re-dressed. KT sat up on the table and stretched her back out, physical therapy was getting easier but the pain never went away. Dean gave the door a knock and then entered, he was holding a cupcake with a candle in it. KT cocked her head to the side, Dean grinned,

“ _It’s been one year since your shoulder surgery, I figured we should celebrate_.”

KT rolled her eyes,

“ _You’re a dork_ ”

Dean brought the cupcake over to KT, she blew the candle out and picked up the sweet treat.

“ _It’s chocolate with a salted caramel center and triple chocolate fudge frosting, made it myself_.”

KT took a bite and let out a moan,

“ _Good lord that’s amazing_ ”

Dean grinned,

“ _I’m glad you like it, it was that receipt that got me a job.”_

_“What?”_

_“Remember the hotel with the angry spirit_?”

KT gave Dean an incredulous look,

“ _Like I could forget that.”_

_“Well the owners have decided they want to start offering breakfast, they hired me.”_

_“I didn’t know you wanted a normal civilian job_.”

Dean shrugged,

“ _I like our set up now, and it’s only five days a week, I go over at 4am, which I’m awake at that time anyway, I make breakfast lay it out on the table and I’m back home by 7am. You and Sam will just be rolling out of bed right around when I get home. Plus someone needs to keep Bowie in dog toys_. _Also did you know that all their rooms are decorated insanely?_! _They even have a fish tank that looks like Cleopatra’s sarcophagus!_ ”

“ _That’s great Dean, and yeah I know about the hotel, the fish tank was even on that show on Animal Planet, Tanked_ ”

KT smiled up at Dean and continued to eat the delicious cupcake he had given her.

“ _That’s so cool, also_ , _speaking of jobs, I heard you and Sam talked about you maybe going back to work part time_?”

“ _It’s stupid, it was just a crazy thought Sam had.”_

 _“It’s not stupid, I think it’s a great idea, Sam and I can be there to help out, come on how fun would it be to boss us around_?”

KT smiled,

“ _It would be fun to make you pick up dog poop all day long_.”

Dean mock gasped in outrage. KT smacked his shoulder and continued her thought,

“ _I have been thinking about it, maybe three days a week, no emergency hours. Start slow just general wellness exams and no surgeries.”_

 _“Sounds like a plan, let me know what you need and I’ll make sure it gets done_.”

KT smiled at Dean,

“ _Thanks Dean, you and Sam, you’ve really been amazing through all of this_.”

KT gave Dean a watery smile before looking down at her lap,

“ _Sorry, I’ll stop, no chick flick moments right_?”

Dean lifted her chin up so she could look into his eyes,

“ _Sweetheart I threw that rule out a while ago, bring on the chick flick moment_.”

“ _Guess that means we should hug now then_?”

Dean pulled KT into a hug, hand resting on her head. When KT pulled back he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear,

“ _Guess that means we’ll both be contributing members of society, who knew Sammy would be the deadbeat in the family_?”

KT let out a bark of a laugh and smacked Dean in the chest again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Fourteen months post surgery- KT’s Animal Clinic**

            It took over a month for KT to get the practice up and running, most days the boys spent their time in the back helping with any large dogs or fussy patients. When they weren’t helping KT, they were dodging the ass pinching fingers of the bubbly vet tech Tina. Once KT proved to herself she could sustain three days a week the boys persuaded her to call her old tech and see if she wanted her old job back. KT was hesitant, she didn’t want to bother the woman, she barley got through telling Tina that she had re-opened the practice before Tina whooped into the phone and told her she was coming back to work. The first day Tina was back at the practice she took one look at the Winchester boys in their light blue scrubs and let out a whistle,

“ _Well hello nurse, Doc you aren’t busy right now right? You think I could borrow these two tall drinks of water to play a little…doctor_.”

Tina winked, Sam choked on his own spit and Dean looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi truck. KT rolled her eyes,

“ _Tina lay off the boys they aren’t used to your truck stop charm yet.”_

_“Sorry boys I didn’t mean to be so bad, now which one of you wants to spank me?”_

_“Tina!”_

With a regretful sign Tina turned away from the boys and followed KT into the exam room. Sam turned to Dean who was still standing perfectly still as if the act of movement would cause the tech to come back again.

“ _Dean, don’t leave me alone in a room with Tina please.”_

 _“Agreed, safety in numbers man_.”

Since that agreement the boys had done their best to not be in a room alone with Tina, of course that didn’t seem to dissuade her from hitting on them, or pinching their ass’s.

            Sam followed KT in an exam room, this was a recheck on Brutus a mastiff with a bad ear infection, Sam remembered the 130lb slobber monster and knew KT would need someone to restrain the dog.

“ _Hello again Mrs. Medow, how has Brutus been?”_

_“Hello Doctor, he’s so much better then he was last week”_

_“That’s great_!”

KT kneeled down and Sam put his arms around the giant horse sized dog,

“ _Alright Brutus, Sam here is just going to give you a hug and I’m going to take a peak in that ear of yours, sound good_?”

Brutus gave Sam a look like that in fact did not sound like a good idea. Sam wrapped his arms around the dog as KT put the otoscope in the dog’s ear, she looked around for a moment, the dog let out a small whine. After checking the other ear she stood back up. Only Sam noticed her arm trembled as she levered herself up using the handrails Sam and Dean had installed in every room to help KT get up off the floor more easily. KT had been doing great with working three days a week, she was usually pretty quiet when she got home but no signs of over exhaustion had occurred. Today had been a long day, they had several walk-ins and many of the patients were large dogs, which had required KT to get up and down off the floor to check them out.

“ _Brutus’s ear looks much better, just keep putting the antibiotic drops in his ear twice a day for another week and he should be good as new_.”

Sam released the dog and tried to not grimace at his scrub shirt, which was soaked in dog slobber. Mrs. Medow thanked KT again before walking out with Brutus. KT walked into the back as Sam stayed behind to give the room a quick disinfecting wipe down. When Sam rejoined KT in the backroom she took one look at his scrub top and snorted a laugh,

“ _Sam you need to change your shirt_.”

Sam felt the drool cooling on his chest through the shirt and couldn’t stand it a moment longer. He pulled the shirt off over his head, as the shirt went over his head he heard a low moan,

“ _Good lord Christmas has come early and Santa must have thought I was a very good girl_ ”

Sam blushed as he finished taking the shirt off and saw Tina standing on the other side of the room, she appeared to be fanning herself. Sam grabbed another scrub top from the pile in the cabinet and put it on.

“ _Oh no don’t take my Christmas present away, I wasn’t a bad girl…yet.”_

 _“Tina stop it I am not paying for a sexual harassment seminar_ ”

KT threw a pen at the tech who was leering at Sam. She seemed to be about to open her mouth to say something else to make the man blush when his cellphone went off, he looked at the display,

“ _Excuse me I need to take this_.”

Sam hurried to the ally outback, he was pretty sure he heard Tina sigh. KT turned to her tech,

“ _You have got to stop sexually harassing them!”_

 _“Sorry but I just can’t help myself, I haven’t had a date in four months and those two are like walking sex on legs_ ”

KT let out a snort,

“ _Oh my god Tina go out to a bar and meet people are something. One day you will actually succeed in making one of them swallow their own tongues and I cannot do the Heimlich on a man the size of a tree_.”

“ _I’ll try and tone it down, but no promises_.”

KT nodded and went to go check on Sam, it had been a while since he stepped outside to take his phone call and usually phone calls that long meant hunter business. She opened the door to hear Sam still talking on the phone,

“ _Thank you so much, I’ll see you on Monday!”_

Sam hung up the phone, KT made a sound behind him so he’d know she was there _,_

 _“Hunter business_?”

“ _No, it was the library, I applied for a job there a while back and they just called back saying they’d hire me.”_

 _“That’s great Sam_!”

KT gave Sam a hug, he smiled,

“ _Thanks, it’s just in the mornings, I’ll be gone from nine to elven so basically just while you and Dean are doing physical therapy. I’ll still be here every afternoon.”_

_“I didn’t know you had been looking for a job.”_

_“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, I was starting to get restless and I spent so much time at the library anyway when I saw the help wanted add I figured why not_.”

KT was lost in thought for a moment,

“ _You know Sam, there’s a university about forty minutes away I’m pretty good at making fake credentials I’m pretty sure I could make you a PhD in mythology and you could get a job as a mythology professor_.”

Sam thought about it for a moment,

“ _I appreciate that, but I think I’m ok for right now, I like the life I have right now, I like spending all this time with you and Dean_.”

KT smiled,

“ _Well the offer stands if you ever change your mind_.”

Sam looked worried for a minute,

“ _Wait…you didn’t give yourself a false medical degree did you_.”

KT gasped and smacked Sam hard in the shoulder,

“ _No you idiot I spent eight years in school to get this degree, good lord_ ”

KT continued to hit him until she heard Sam snicker,

“ _I’m just pulling your leg KT, trust me I know you more then earned that title”_

 _“You’ve been hanging around your brother too much, you’re kind of becoming a jerk_.”

The words stung less seeing the gleam in her eyes as she said it. KT motioned for Sam to follow her inside,

“ _Come on we have another appointment, Mrs. Mcgillicuddy is coming in with Fluffy her Pomeranian_.”

Sam groaned,

“ _Oh god not Fluffy, she should have named him Chompers, last time he almost took off a digit_.”

KT laughed and patted Sam on the back. The rest of the day ended up being just as busy as the beginning of it. There were several more walk-ins, one of which turned into an emergency GDV. KT had to trocar the stomach to release the gas pressure in order to stabilize the dog enough for him to be transferred to the emergency hospital for surgery. By the time the three hunters made it to the car both men saw that KTs entire body was trembling. They spent the ride over mentally preparing themselves for fighting with KT to let them help her. As they pulled into the driveway KT spoke, her voice small,

“ _Sam, could you, um, could you carry me up the steps I don’t think I can get up them right now_.”

Sam schooled his surprised expression before turning around to face the woman,

“ _Sure thing KT_.”

Sam got out of the car, he opened the back door and lifted KT out of the car and carried her into the house. He settled her in the kitchen as Dean prepared dinner. The three ate dinner with quiet conversation, Sam told Dean about his new job, Dean gave him some good-natured ribbing about being a giant nerd. When they finished dinner they all went into the living room. KT paused at the couch,

“ _Sam, can I lean against you, I can’t sit up right now_?”

If Sam was surprised KT had actually asked for help he didn’t show it, Sam laid himself down on the couch and patted the spot next to him,

“ _Of course_.”

KT sat down and Sam pulled her against him, Dean sat down, lifting KTs legs and placing them on his lap. Dean rubbed her knee, which he could tell was swollen from all the extra kneeling KT had been doing that day. Sam stroked KTs hair and soon she was asleep on the couch. Eventually the boys decided it was time for bed, Dean picked up KT from where she was laying against Sam. Bowie followed the boy's, tail wagging as they headed towards KTs room. Bowie jumped up on the bed and Dean laid the woman down next to the happy dog. The men with one last fond look at the sleeping woman quietly backed out of the room and headed to their respective beds. If someone had told them a few years ago their lives would become this domestic life where they owned a rescue dog and lived with a surly hunter who would capture their hearts while they worked civilian jobs that they would love, they would have laughed, then probably punched the person in the face, then laughed again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Sixteen months post surgery: The Hunter House**

            KT was lounging on the recliner in the library, Bowie was curled up at her feet. Sam had brought a stack of new lore books he’d ordered from the library catalogue earlier in the week and KT had been chomping at the bit to read them since then, they had just finished dinner and KT figured now was as good a time as any to read about the mating habits of gremlins. She was brought out of the complex ritual she was reading about by her ringing phone, she glanced down at the display and saw it was Tina. She closed the book and answered the phone,

“ _Hey Tina what’s up?”_

_“Uhg I am so annoyed with the men of the world.”_

_“All of them?”_

_“Well not those two boys you bring into work with you every day, if they were at the T-Bar right now I would be more inclined to stay.”_

_“No good prospects there currently?”_

_“No, there was one guy who tried hitting on me with the pick up line ‘Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’ I told him, no, but it sure did when I broke through the earths crust climbing out of hell_ ”

KT chuckled into the phone, Tina continued her tirade,

“ _I had to get out of there, it was just too- HEY! What the hell get off me_!”

KT sat up straight as she heard Tina yelling,

“ _Tina what’s going on!”_

 _“Get off me dirt bag I already told you no, what the hell, what drugs are you on your eyes are yellow_?!”

The phone went dead, KT got up and headed into the living room where the boys were watching TV.

“ _Sam, Dean we need to move, Tina’s been grabbed, I think it might have been a werewolf_.”

Both boys got up, Dean headed upstairs, Sam grabbed a pad of paper,

“ _What happened?”_

 _“Tina was outside the T-bar, some dude had been hitting on her inside that she turned down. While she was outside he came out and grabbed her, I heard her yell that his eyes had turned yellow and I heard a deep growl, and then the phone went dead_.”

Dean returned downstairs with two duffle bags, he threw one at Sam,

“ _Let’s go_.”

KT crossed her arms,

“ _Where’s my bag?”_

_“Oh no, you are not coming with.”_

_“Dean I am not having this argument with you again, this is my friend we’re talking about_.”

“ _Yeah and she got grabbed by a probable WEREWOLF, if you think I’m letting you anywhere near one of those you’ve lost your mind. Stay here try and track Tina’s cell phone_.”

Dean turned and walked out the door, Sam followed him. The door slammed, KT screamed out in frustration. Bowie who had followed KT into the living room let out a low whine and backed away. KT went and opened her laptop, when Tina’s GPS location popped up she smiled to herself.

“ _Good girl way to hold on to your cellphone_.”

KT googled the location and pinpointed the likely place she was being held as a small cabin in the woods about twenty minutes outside of town. KT texted Sam the location and then started doing some quick research about any resent missing people or animal attacks. As she read a coroner report on a recently found body her blood ran cold. She slammed the laptop shut and called Sam, the phone went to voice mail, the same thing occurred with Dean’s.

            Sam and Dean were moving stealthily through the woods towards the small cabin KT had texted them about. When they reached the location they both turned their phones on silent to not alert whatever was in that cabin that they were outside. As the crept towards the window they saw a man standing over Tina, she appeared to be tied up, there was a small cut on her arm but she appeared otherwise unharmed. As they saw the man’s claws retract they knew she may not stay unharmed for long. Dean motioned to Sam that he was going to go around the house to see if there was an open entrance. The man started speaking to Tina,

“ _You think you’re so special, that it’s just ok to laugh at someone’s advances. Who’s laughing now hmm_?”

The werewolf leaned down and held Tina’s face in his clawed hand. Tina let out a small whimper.

“ _I’m laughing fuzz ball_ ”

The werewolf stood up and came face to face with a pissed off Dean Winchester pointing a gun at his chest. The werewolf didn’t even get to let out statement of surprise before he had two silver bullets in his heart. Dean knelt down and started untying Tina, Sam walked around the house to come into the cabin to help his brother. Tina looked frightened and confused,

“ _Sam? Dean? What just happened?”_

 _“Uh, that’s kind of a long story, and we’ll tell you about it when we get you back to our place_.”

“ _Well if I knew if all it took was getting abducted to be invited back to your house for a little horizontal mambo I would have gotten grabbed a long time ago_.”

Dean rolled his eyes at the woman’s comments. He had almost finished untying her hands when he thought he heard the faintest sound of humming. He barely had time to process the sound before he heard a gunshot ring out, he turned around quickly to see a second werewolf fall to the ground at his feet. He looked past the fallen monster to see KT standing at the window, gun in her hands. She lowered the gun and gave the brother’s an incredulous look,

“ _Really? After all we’ve been through and you didn’t think to check for a second one_?”

Dean tried to sputter a response, KT placed her hands on her hips. Sam scrunched up his nose,

“ _Where you humming AC/DCs ‘Big Gun’_?”

That startled a laugh out of Dean. KT looked over at Sam,

“ _Just setting the mood_ ”

            After they got Tina untied, KT said she’d take Tina home and let the boys deal with the bodies. After burning the bodies the boys returned home to find KT sitting on the recliner in the living room. They went and stowed their gear and joined her in the living room. KT looked up at the brothers,

“ _You boys need to start completing the hunter checklist soon because I cannot keep pulling your asses out of the fire_.”

Dean and Sam both laughed, Sam sat down on the couch,

“ _Understood.”_

 _“How’s Tina doing_?”

“ _She’s shaken up but she’ll be ok eventually. Of course now she’s going on and on about her big tall hero’s and how she plans on swooning into your arms come Monday morning_.”

Sam snorted, Dean could see that KT was in pain, it was understandable given she had to have run upstairs to collect her gear, Dean still wasn’t sure how she even got to the cabin and then she had to shoot the werewolf. He offered his hand out to KT,

“ _Come on, time for all of us to rest some_.”

KT looked like she was going to refuse for just a second before taking his hand. Dean pulled her up and walked her over to the couch, she sat down and Sam pulled her back against him, Dean lifted her legs and placed them in his lap. Dean started to massage her knee. With all the humans settled Bowie came over and lay at the foot of the couch. Sam and Dean both had questions, it seemed Sam couldn’t hold back asking any longer.

“ _So how’d you know there was a second one?”_

 _“Coroners report, he hypothesized that two wolves tore a body to shreds given the bite and claw marks were different sizes_.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully,

“ _Wait, you can hack into the coroners office_?”

Sam could hear the smile in her voice,

“ _Sam is there anything I can’t hack into?”_

 _“Man you have to show me how to do that_.”

Dean couldn’t hold back his question any longer,

“ _How’d you get a car and get to us so fast_?”

KT chuckled lowly,

“ _I have burner cars all throughout this town filled with gear and enough money to get me three towns over_.”

Dean made an appreciative sound,

“ _Man KT when are you going to stop surprising us with these insane secrets_.”

KT laid her head back on Sam’s chest.

“ _Boys, you could live with me for the rest of your lives and not know all the tricks I have up my sleeve_.”

Sam rumbling chuckle startled KT a little from her relaxed position,

“ _Deal.”_

_“What?”_

_“Deal, I want to spend the rest of my life living here with you and Dean and constantly being surprised by your insanity_.”

Dean nodded his head,

“ _Agreed_ ”

KT looked thoughtful for a moment, she glanced at Dean’s grinning face, felt Sam’s rumbling laughter and looked down at their dog asleep at their feet.

“ _You know boys, I think I could get used to this_.”

The Winchester’s exchanged a look over KTs head and said in unison,

“ _Took you long enough_.”


End file.
